Discrepancy
by Memories Faded
Summary: He was her ticket to finding and returning her former teammate. She was his doctor as he remained a prisoner of Konoha. So why couldn't it just stay that way long enough for both of them to get what they wanted?
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

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_**Discrepancy**_

_[di-**skrep**-uhn-see]_

_1. the state or quality of being discrepant; difference; inconsistency._

_2. an instance of difference or inconsistency.

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It was almost nightfall before Sasuke finally let Team Hawk have a proper rest after a whole day's worth of running. He'd been running them all dry ever since they had joined with Akatsuki to destroy Konoha. Personally Suigetsu couldn't really see the point in all of this endless movement while Pein and his 'partner' Konan were still planning on how to invade the Leaf village.

"We'll stop here for now." The Uchiha spoke, back facing them while he appeared to be studying the night.

The rest of them all but collapsed where they stood on the ground. Panting, and shaking from yet another day of full physical exertion.

"'Bout fucking time too." Suigetsu muttered under his breath, glaring enviously in Sasuke's direction, as the young man gave no outward sign of physical exhaustion.

"Shut up Suigetsu." Karin bit back. Causing him to snort and turn his head back to her.

"I wasn't talking to you, bitch"

"Quiet."

They all duly noted the sudden seriousness of the Uchiha's tone. Casting him wavering glances the rest of the team fell silent. Suigetsu suddenly realized that it was quiet. Much too noticeably quiet than usual. All the crickets and other various animals stopped making noise altogether. None of them had time to stand up from the ground before the ambushing shinobi were on them.

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**A/N; I know that this is _extremely_ short. Please bare with me. The other chapters will be much better _and_ longer.**


	2. I

**I am Memories Faded, I like Mt Dew and dislike tanning and I do not own Naruto.**

Chapter One

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_**Aversion**_

_-noun_

_[uh-**vur**-zhuhn, -shuhn]_

_1. a strong feeling of dislike, opposition, repugnance, or antipathy (usually fol. by to): a strong aversion to snakes and spiders._

_2. a cause or object of dislike; person or thing that causes antipathy_

* * *

She couldn't have been much more disappointed if her and her team had just had a rerun of their last encounter with Sasuke at Orochimaru's lair years ago.

Her fists tightened at her sides, stomach clenched with a tight and uncomfortable ache. The excitement and hope that had boiled inside of her when Sai first briefed her on the capture simmered and faded. The burning itch in her eyes and lump in her throat were threatening to expose her weakness in front of all of her superiors.

It wasn't Sasuke.

Even after all the time and effort they had put into bringing him back, they never found their lost teammate. Every trail, every lead ended with a dead end. Sakura had to watch Naruto's face light up each time they were assigned a new mission to locate Sasuke's trail. Then become crushed all over again when the trail turned cold.

Sai remained emotionless, having never really known Sasuke, but he still did his part best in the mission. As expected from someone trained in Root most of their life. Kakashi seemed used to the idea that they would never find him, that Sasuke had to come to them. Sakura herself was losing more and more hope every time. It seemed Naruto was the only one who had enough faith, because he still put his whole self in each of the missions they spent chasing after their former teammate. He was the only one who raised his hopes every time.

They had been so close, _so close_ to finally finding him. And bringing him home at last.

But the captive that the ANBU had over-powered on the borders on Fire Country and brought in was not Sasuke, but perhaps the next best thing. One of his own hand-picked teammates.

"Not Sasuke." She whispered to herself. Looking down and squeezing her burning eyes tightly shut. "It's not Sasuke."

Suigetsu was motionless in the room. His hair was matted and filthy, caked with dirt, mud, and dried blood. He hung his head so his face wasn't visible to anyone who looked through the two-sided mirror that separated him from the outside. He was upright and conscious, though he couldn't do anything. His hands and feet were tied with chakra wires to his seat. Someone, probably Anko or Shizune, had placed a metal rod in his mouth so that he couldn't bite off his tongue with those unusually sharp teeth of his, to either keep himself from being forced into talking or to make a hasty attempt at suicide.

He was beaten, sorely, it was obviously a huge blow to his ego as well because from what she had already heard he was not the type to sit out and be dealt intense interrogation and verbal abuse.

Sakura looked at him through the window with a mixed expression of sadness, disappointment and anger.

This wasn't Sasuke, this was just a prisoner that Tsunade had ordered her to heal before he was further interrogated.

Ibiki cast her one reproachful glance as he unlocked and opened the steel door for her. She entered cautiously, the presence of Ibiki and Anko a sort of distant reassurance as she stepped toward him. He did not move his head to look at her, so she crouched down in front of him.

His left eye was black and purple and swollen shut. His right was also in a similar state, but he still had it open. His lip was split twice, both at the bottom. There was a nasty gash over his left eyebrow that looked like it might be infected. All the rest of his face was bruised and swollen, blood and dirt made it near impossible for her to tell what he really looked like.

She felt a pang of sympathy for him.

Suigetsu finally raised his head to look at her as she reached for the metal rod between his jaws. She slipped it out of his mouth so that she could check him for any further injuries.

He moved so suddenly that she couldn't jerk away before his teeth clamped down on her hand and bit down, hard. She inhaled sharply, but didn't scream, out of instinct drawing back her other hand and punching him in his already bruised face with equal ferocity.

She had expected some sort of attack from him, but he moved much faster than she thought he could in his condition. He grunted, but didn't release her hand, instead he bit harder. She growled, this time focusing chakra into her punch as she nailed him in the gut.

He gave a muffled groan, she yanked her injured hand from his mouth and glared furiously. Inner Sakura was raging at him, demanding that she finish off the job by beating his ass to the ground without mercy, as Tsunade had taught her.

She had to have broken a few ribs from that punch, and probably his jaw as well.

Sakura heard the door open from behind her and turned slightly to meet Ibiki's stern glare. She raised her uninjured hand to him to signal that she was fine. His eyes shifted back to the prisoner, who was wheezing short breaths of air and winching visibly. He left just as she began healing her hand.

She scowled at him, he glared at her. She spoke first. "That _hurt_, you prick."

His glare increased, some sort of sadistic delight shone plainly in his open eye behind his suppressed pain. He opened his mouth to speak, but closed it again. A pained expression crossed over his battered face.

"Are you going to bite me again?" She asked coolly, still cradling the now mended hand that he had mauled. He did not speak or respond. But if seething glares were physical, the one he sent her would have burned.

"Good. You had no reason to anyway. It wasn't me personally to beat you was it?" She spoke to him without meeting his gaze again as she pushed him back in his chair and unbuttoned the belt crossed over his shirt. Completely ignoring his monosyllabic protests. She tugged at, un-tucked, and lifted his filthy shirt up to his chest. Hands made their way under the blood-stained material and pressed flat up against his unexposed chest to assess the damage she had caused to his ribs. She closed her eyes in concentration, ignoring the way his heart rate sped up. Probably due to the fact that he suddenly was bordering on being groped by a complete stranger who happened to be from the village who had taken him captive.

She pulled away almost as quickly as she had lifted his shirt. Unsure on whether or not she was allowed to completely heal him. She should do it anyway, since she had been the one to break some of his ribs. Green chakra glowed openly on her hands, he studied them in mixed fascination for a moment before he stiffened completely as she brought them back to his chest and began healing his damaged ribs. Going from rigid to slightly tense in only a few seconds

The entire time he didn't look away from her face, he watched her warily with mild fascination. It was not helping her concentration_ at all_, and the fact that he was strapped in a chair so close to her only made it that much worse. But for some reason she wasn't really afraid, even after the earlier incident, merely unnerved and cautious. He would really have to be out of his mind if he was going to try to attack her again. Out of his mind and completely stupid.

"Your chakra feels nice." He said in a raspy voice.

"Your skin is clammy." She retorted dryly.

"Really?" He smirked, "That's good then."

She didn't know what exactly he meant by that. But judging by the impish way he was grinning at her, it couldn't be anything good.

Sakura stepped back to assess her work and suddenly, she was overcome for a moment. For the first time since she had stepped into the room, she could see him like she hadn't before, _really_ see him. And she was astonished by what was there.

Underneath all the blood and dirt and bruising there was a young man sitting in front of her that couldn't be more than a year or two older than herself. Now that the swelling around his eyes had receded she could see that they both were _very_ pale and _very_ bright. So bright and pale that it was hard to tell if they were blue, or if they were a gray that reflected the colors surrounding him.

The last and most important thing she realized was that beneath all that mess, and beneath the shark-like appearance, he was beautiful.

But that last thought was _defiantly_ not welcome. She pushed it aside, hoping desperately that he didn't notice her blushing, and went back to finishing her work.

And then he went and opened his mouth.

"So, you like what you see?"

She felt her face turn beet red. She was barely able to restrain her consuming urge to strangle him. And killing a patient was extremely _un_professional.

"You're Sasuke's teammate." He stated in a matter-of-fact voice.

She was quiet for a moment. "No," unable to hide her bitterness. "Not anymore"

In the end she decided to heal him completely. Gods knew he was going to need it for what was to come with Ibiki. He would live. But he was physically weak, probably still in a good deal of pain, and almost completely out of chakra thanks to the binds on his wrists.

He still watched her the whole time, she felt his eyes on her like a physical weight pressing down on her. As much as she wanted to raise her head and say something snappy at him, she kept her cool and remained silent.

The chakra in her hands ceased and her hands dropped to rest on her thighs. "There. You'll live," She said wearily, the strain was already beginning to take it's toll.

He grinned at her, apparently unconcerned about his approaching interrogation. "I'm not good at Thank Yous."

She couldn't smile back as she turned and left the room, knowing too well what was coming for him. But she didn't hope for him either.

"Not Sasuke." She reminded herself. _"It's not Sasuke."_

* * *

Sakura's normal routine returned after that.

Months ago she had moved into a small apartment after she took up enough hours at the hospital to afford living on her own. It was hard to be alone sometimes. Memories of team seven seemed to sneak behind every corner in her empty home and jump out to bite her after every failed attempt at retrieving Sasuke.

Sakura expected news on Sasuke after her first meeting with Suigetsu. Or at least some form of information. But nothing came.

Inevitably, she was summoned by Tsunade less than a week later for a new assignment involving the prisoner.

Her mentor seemed more stressed than usual when she arrived. The sake cups which usually covered her desk were doubled, some lay forgotten to the floor around crumpled papers. The Godaime wore a troubled frown, failing to even meet Sakura's eyes as she entered her room.

"..You requested me Tsunade-sama?" Sakura asked cautiously, too familiar with the female Hokage's hysterics when she was irritable.

Tsunade still did not meet Sakura's eyes for some time. When she did, Sakura could see the effects of whatever dilemma she was currently under. Small wrinkles were setting around her eyes and mouth along with a deep furrow in her brow. Her hair was unwashed and her eyes were bloodshot.

"So far none of the interrogation that Ibiki has put him under had worked." Tsunade closed her eyes again, fingers straying to her forehead to rub at her temples.

They both were quiet. "I want you to talk to him."

Sakura was startled. "What? But why would I.."

"Because if he _does_ give us any information I need _you_ to get it first!" The sharp voice of the fifth Hokage cut off her sentence.

There was only a moment before it all clicked in Sakura's mind.

Of course, she realized, Tsunade did not take any of Leaf's best ninja off of mission rotation to go on a doomed-to-fail chase to save one missing-nin. The only reason these assignments were still approved of by the Council of Elders was because Konoha could not afford to lose the Sharingan bloodline.

"Sakura."

If her and her team could not convince Sasuke to return with them on his own, they would have to take him by force and return him to Konoha where his DNA would be extracted to return the bloodline to the village. Then he would be tried and likely executed for treason. And even if that failed, Konoha was probably prepared to kill the last remaining Uchiha in order to keep the bloodline artificially.

"Sakura."

It was the only way for her to help her team find Sasuke before another team from Konoha did. If she was the one who gained the needed information firsthand. She'd be able to tell Naruto before the village elders found out and tried stopping them. But that was only if Suigetsu decided to talk.

"Sakura."

It was a delicate situation, a very delicate situation. One that Tsunade was obviously reluctant to put her student under.

She understood then, and was frozen in shock.

"_Sakura!"_

She was brought back harshly to reality by her red-faced sensei. Unable to withhold her own troubled frown as her eyes traveled back to Tsunade's.

"Shizune has been the one overseeing healing him during questioning. But she told me that she's refusing to heal him any further after witnessing too much of Ibiki's _special_ techniques.

"He hasn't been affected at all?"

"Oh he has." Tsunade said. "But whatever training he had in his village must have been harsh enough so that he could withstand our methods of interrogation."

_'You mean torture.'_ She thought bitterly.

"Konoha is not a perfect village, Sakura. Its not all black and white like they teach you in the academies." Tsunade said, half reading her mind.

There was a moment where Sakura could only stand in front of the older woman, unable to speak or move. Then she looked steadily into her shisou's eyes.

"You really need me to do this?"

"Yes Sakura," Tsunade said. "But it's your decision."

She bit her lip. Completely unaware of what she was in for.

"When will I start?"

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**A/N; Good? Bad? Deranged piles of crap that should be erased from the universe? Tell me what you think.**


	3. Intermission Phase

**I am Memories Faded, I do realize that talking to yourself is one of the first signs that you are losing your mind and I do not own ****Naruto****.**

Intermission; Phase

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_The light is dead in your eye_

_So I'll keep livin my life_

_I only wanted to try_

_To find my way back inside_

I've always loved the look in my opponent's eyes when they realize that I'm going to kill them. It's so wonderful how they light up in fear at the sudden realization that they'll never go home, it's too late to go back and say good-bye to their families and friends and everything that they used to enjoy in their village. They obviously never wondered at just how fragile human life is, especially when you're weak and over-confidant. Their shinobi life has finally caught up with them and it's time to pay the price. I of course, am more than happy to deliver it to them. Just playing my part as Death's young apprentice. Then the light leaves their eyes, and that petrified look is still frozen on their stupid faces. I can never help but feel satisfied.

Such fools.

Then again, maybe I shouldn't be so eager to play God. That only gets you in trouble, anyone with common sense knows that.

But its just so damn tempting.

_My imitation of life_

_My litigation of life_

_It's something easy to find_

_Inside the shade of your mind_

It's bliss to see someone's blood. Knowing it's their blood, not your's. It's _their_ pain, _not your's_. By the time you reach genin level it should already be second nature. Mercy gets you killed. That's the first thing you should know as a shinobi. The best entertainment in the world to me is watching a weakling die while knowing that you've just liberated yet another asshole from the world.

_Out of the ground I rise to grace_

_Nobody knows it's just a phase_

_Help me, I'm out of breath again_

_Nobody knows somewhere to make it go away_

I've had people beg me for their worthless lives

There's only been a handful who've actually looked me in the face and said _'fuck you'_ or some other defiant sentence right before I decapitated them. Those people are the only ones actually worth killing.

_Phase,_

Sasuke has been the only person since my brother who I can honestly say I have an ounce of respect for. I've never met an opponent like him, its impossible _not_ to respect him. As his enemy or as his companion. And I'm no idiot, I know that if we ever fought that I would lose to him. That doesn't mean I'd make it easy for him. But it's wise to stay on his good side. I know that, just like I know if I had refused to join him after he freed me from Orochimaru's prison he would have either killed me or forced me. Which is why I went so willingly.

_Phase,_

Mangetsu and I had been attached to each other at the hip since before I could walk. He played the role of the annoyed older brother right up until our parents died, then everything changed. That usually tends to happen after parents die, the older sibling has to take up the responsible role.

Usually.

Because Uchiha's brother sure as hell didn't do that

_Phase,_

Orphans, even greater in the Mist village, were and still are worse than trash. But by the time our parents died we were old enough to take care of ourselves. I think inside both Mangetsu and I knew that our parents would get themselves killed eventually. I certainly did. That's just how it was. To form a bond with someone, even family, _especially_ family, was probably the stupidest thing you could do. Betrayal in family clans is old news.

_Phase,_

I've always wanted to become one of the seven swordsmen. Since childhood. Even in my earliest memories. Mangetsu and I trained like crazy for it. We looked to the seven swordsmen and saw a chance at freedom, an escape from the pathetic status we gained after out parents died. And that's what we did. The fearsome Houzuki brothers, that's what they called us. Every mission was another step towards our goal. Our **ambition**_._ It was the only thing that kept me sane after the same old boring shit every day.

_I find it hard to decide_

_The way to make up you mind_

_Your lips are better than mine_

_So you can kiss this goodbye_

I've been called a child of many talents. A protege. The fruit of my ancestors before me who laid down the very root of Kirigakure's foundation. I've been called other things too. Murderer, demon, monster.

And personally, I like those names much more.

_My imitation of life_

_My litigation of life_

_It's something easy to find_

_Inside the shade of your mind_

My clan was pretty similar to the Uchiha clan. Cocky, arrogant and power-hungry.

But that's just how I grew up.

Killing becomes second nature once we enter the academy. Killing your friends used to be a part of the Chuunin Exams. It may be outlawed now. But that doesn't mean that everyone plays by the rules.

_Out of the ground I rise to grace_

_Nobody knows it's just a phase_

_Help me, I'm out of breath again_

_Nobody knows somewhere to make it go away_

For years we trained, I could almost physically feel how close we were getting to finally reaching our destination. And then Mangetsu had to go and fucking die on me and leave me on my own for the first time in my life.

Fucking prick.

And yet, no matter how hard I try, I still can never bring myself to actually hate him.

_Its just a phase_

Being caught by the snake was my first huge setback in achieving that goal. Another reason why I respect the Uchiha. He easily could have just left me to rot there in that tank, I don't think I would've blamed him either, but he didn't. Although joining him has been my second major setback. But joining him also means I can get close to Mr Shark-fin soup, Kisame and his sword Samehada.

_And I can't wait _

Dead brother or not, I'll make it on my own without him. Helping Sasuke achieve his objective gets me closer to leaving him once that's accomplished, and it gets me closer to Kisame. That's a damn good deal if you ask me.

_Phase, _

The only philosophy I've ever lived by is the philosophy that humans only ever exist to kill each other. That's how most every ninja who originated from my village lived. I suspect that I too will die believing that.

_Phase,_

My life isn't important to anyone else but myself. When I die all this world will have left of me is a decaying matter of carbon, water and human tissue. I came up with my own conclusion after all the lives I have taken. And the realization that if no one knows who I was then what truly is the point of living? Especially if you're only destined to be forgotten once your corpse has reached rigor mortise. Don't get me wrong, I don't seek immortality like Orochimaru. No, after I claim all of the legendary swords from my village I seek to find a way for my name to be remembered.

Famous or infamous, it doesn't matter to me. I'll reach my goal either way.

_Phase,_

I didn't exactly expect Sasuke to abandon me like he did when those pussy leaf-nins ambushed us. But again, I can't say that I blame him. That doesn't mean I'm not going to kick his ass once I find him though. I suspect I'm so nonchalant about it because I'm not afraid of what these half-wit shinobi can do to me. It's obvious that they can't kill me or else they would have done so by now. I am currently their best lead on the 'only' remaining Uchiha.

_Phase,_

The Hokage threatened me with the fact that under her control one shinobi who can enter the minds of others could easily be used on me. Pein was no fool, he set blocks up in each of our minds to prevent just that sort of thing from happening. The bitch looked so pissed at me when I started laughing at her and dared her to try it.

_I know,_

I'm almost certain its only a matter of time before I completely ruin that girl who calls herself Sasuke's former teammate. I _loath_ her. Pink hair, green eyes, that firm way she holds herself like she actually thinks she's worth respecting. Please, I honestly don't understand how such half-rate shinobi are responsible for destroying most of the Akatsuki. And I _do not_ believe she would have been able to take down an Akatsuki member on her own. No matter how much those morons bragged about her and her 'skills', I know the truth. I remembered over-hearing them back at HQ discussing that it couldn't actually have been her who killed Sasori. He was stabbed in the heart by _puppets_, and I **know** that she can't use marionette techniques. So it had to have been the old bat named Chiyo who was fighting alongside her who actually slew Akasuna no Sasori.

_I know,_

She makes me sick just looking at her. All that unnatural looking pink and that stick-skinny body. I don't see how anyone could find a girl as flat as a 10 year-old, with a such a high forehead attractive. These leaf-nins are more confusing now that I'm actually inside their walls. And I was hoping for it to be the other way around too. Pity.

Well, that's what you get for putting optimism in half-rate shinobi.

_I know,_

Now, it's only a matter of time before I get rid of that bitch and figure out a way to get out of here. Back to Sasuke and Kisame's Samehada.

_I know_

Heh, I might actually enjoy this too. It's been too long since I last had a decent vacation.

_It's just a fucking phase_

_**I'm drained time to fake and delay**_

_**Watch the penny drop**_

_**Let it go up and in drop**_

_**Then watch it roll let's**_

_**All mourn till I survive inside you**_

_Breaking Benjamin--Phase_


	4. II

**A/N; Well I'm not sorry for it being sort of late. I wanted it to be at least half-way good before I dished it out here,**

**And Zomg, I have reviewers!**

**O_O**

**Wow, I'm so glad people like it! It makes me feel so good inside X']**

**Now If only I can make longer chapters...**

**Well, Enjoy!**

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**I am Memories Faded, I have a laptop and only need to leave my room when I have to pee and I do not own Naruto.**

Chapter Two

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_**Belittle**_

_-verb_

_[bi-**lit**-l]_

_to regard or portray as less impressive or important than appearances indicate; depreciate; disparage._

_to represent or speak of as contemptibly small or unimportant._

* * *

She came to visit him the next week. By then most of his injuries were healing well enough on their own.

His bright eyes narrowed on her from where he sat on his stained, lumpy looking bed against the far wall as she entered his room. He looked much cleaner, but still far from presentable.

"What the hell do you want?"

She ignored his rudeness, she had a job to do. There really was no point in arguing especially since neither had ever given the other a proper introduction to begin with. "I'm Sakura, I'll be..."

He narrowed his eyes. "We've met before and I don't care who you are. What do you want?" he repeated.

Sakura felt her eyebrow twitch. His demeanor sure had taken a huge turn since their last meeting. She wondered just how bad the interrogation must have gone for him to be this much of an ass. Which had already been bad enough before.

For a moment their eyes met and they simply stared at each other. Motionless, completely frozen in place, the sounds of their breathing the only noise in the small room.

Minutes passed and they did not look away. They had locked themselves without any reason into a staring contest. And neither was going to give in to the silent battle of wills. Sakura's eyes started watering, she blinked but refused to break the immature little game she was holding with him. He grinned at her and licked his cracked lips, almost, but not quite bringing her focus away from his eyes and on to his sharp white teeth.

Apparently his earlier hostility towards her had vanished as soon as he realized he had someone to irritate.

It didn't take long after that for Sakura to decide how truly immature she was acting by playing these childish games with him. She closed her eyes, fingers itching to rub at her temples as a headache started to form. When she looked back at him he was reclining back on the mattress, looking slightly dissatisfied. One arm tucked under his head and the other rubbing over his abdomen.

She had to struggle to look away from the pale stomach muscles flexing beneath his shirt. And decided to cut right to the chase.

"I want information."

He sneered without even looking at her. Without bothering to look up he replied a very simple "No."

She scowled at him. "That wasn't a question."

He shrugged. "I don't see what I have to gain from telling you anything."

"I'm sure we could work something out for you." She insisted.

He laughed dryly. "Right, because I'm currently the prisoner of the village of kittens and rainbows, and you're just gonna let me go after everything is all over, right?"

Her eyes narrowed sharply on him at his sarcasm. Her fingers suddenly began to itch to punch him again instead...

"I've just been interrogated for only _you_ know how long. It's obvious by now you can't kill me, or else you would have done it by now. But you're also too afraid to do anything that could cause real harm. "

_'Brilliant deduction.'_ She grumbled inwardly. "Do you really think that we won't kill you eventually anyways?"

He threw his head back and gave a hearty laugh. "You guys? The _Leaf_ ninja? Oh _please_!"

His laughter was cut short as Sakura's fist unexpectedly buried itself in the wall behind his head before she could stop herself. He looked genuinely startled for a moment. But then he grinned at her in sadistic satisfaction.

_'Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit! NOW look what you did!'_ She ranted even as her inner-self cackled in glee.

Sakura stood up to leave, intent on getting herself out before she messed anything else up. It was bad enough now, she'd never, _ever_ forgive herself if their closest chance to finding Sasuke was ruined because of her. Suigetsu watched carefully as she pulled the undamaged fist out of the wall and backed away from him.

She made it about halfway to the door when she heard his mocking voice calling after her.

"So, if I misbehave again are you going to punish me?"

She turned halfway to look back at him. Not at all serious when she spoke back.

"Maybe."

* * *

Every day after that manifested into a sadistic ritual. And Suigetsu was pulling all the strings.

She would wake up, go through her morning routine, stop at the hospital and sometimes then Tsunade's office- but not allowed to go on any _real_ missions until 'the captive' told her anything useful. Spend time with friends, train. Though at the end of every day she would come back to his small cell and be forced to deal through whatever abuse he spent his whole cooking up for her.

He was horrible, absolutely awful to her. Stabbing wherever he thought her weaknesses were. It didn't help that she was already the type of person who was ruled by her emotions in the first place. And it _really_ didn't help that he was so damn perceptive about it. He found everything so easily she might as well have handed him a book on how to verbally assault her and tell him to have at it. _'Yes, go right on ahead and take notes while you rot in your cell all day. It's not like I _already _have self-esteem issues or anything.'_

He insulted her, her ninja skills and her lack of strength. _Especially_ her lack of strength, that if she was really strong enough she'd have brought Sasuke back already. So it was indirectly her fault that he was in Konoha to begin with.

Every now and then, if he was feeling more snippy than usual he would start attacking the way she had her hair and even the style of her clothes. Elaborating and continuing until she began to counter his attacks with ones of her own after all her patience and self-control eventually collapsed on itself. At first he was surprised, but he recovered quickly. His sharkish grin widened and his eyes danced with some malicious glee.

Insults meant absolutely nothing to him. That was likely due to the fact that Sakura knew almost nothing about him. Even so, she wasn't naturally the type who tried bring people down on purpose if she wasn't already angry. It was painfully obvious in just the lack of strength in her convictions that she had nothing to fight back with. He was such an enigma, but it was so apparent that he wanted her to push back.

And so the game began.

She relented only once afterward, for which he responded by attacking her full force for her cowardice. Now they were playing for keeps.

He seemed to be out for her sanity.

She wanted to break him, break his control and all his emotional barriers until he gave in and gave her what she wanted.

Information. Information about _Sasuke_.

She had to win, she _had_ to. It could be the only way for them to get Sasuke back. And there wasn't anyone else who could take her place.

But a lot of things that developed between them were left unspoken.

A polite, forced smile would be rewarded by a ruthless grin and a flash of sharp teeth. A question answered with a sarcastic retort. It seemed after a while they got used to each other, and his avoidance of questions started to piss her off less, and appear more like a challenge, and Sakura Haruno loved a good challenge.

But _this_ challenge was too difficult to face without some kind of help or background information

His description in the bingo book covered the basics, but it gave no leads on any weaknesses for interrogation to work on. He was a former Mist-nin, his village probably had tons of information about him. But Leaf and Mist were currently on shaky ground at best. And that was _excluding_ the fact that Mist had already made an alliance with Akatsuki. It was more than ridiculous to even_think_ to request for his files.

He was constantly in a state of dehydration. Tsunade told her that it was because they could not risk him using his abilities to escape. Apparently he could liquefy any part of his body at will when in proper condition, meaning when he was properly hydrated. It was something that Sakura had not yet seen, but would like to. She wondered if it was some type of bloodline limit, or just a very complicated forbidden jutsu.

The curious medic in her couldn't help but wonder just how his body functioned when he was in liquid form. Was it painful? How did his internal organs still function? Was he able to breathe? How long could he stay in that form? How long had he been able to do it in his lifetime?

The day he went into shock however, stunned the living hell out of her.

She had noticed how that day he looked a bit worse than he usually did. His pupils were dilated, and he had a hard time staying focused on trivial things. Which was very unusual. Because normally he would have a whole internal script to run by.

He hadn't been wearing handcuffs for a little over a week, but some kind of invisible force held his hands down as face-first, he toppled forward from his mattress onto the cement floor.

She was frozen in shock for maybe ten seconds, it seemed more than likely that he was playing a trick on her, because it had seemed impossible for him, who was strong enough to bite her after being beaten and almost completely drained of chakra, to pass out cold on the floor at random. So when he didn't show any signs of movement she knew that obviously something was_very_ wrong. The medic-nin in her kicked in and she reacted as calmly as she could in the situation, which was to check on him first and then press the alarm button. Though it probably wasn't needed, she was one of the best medics in the entire country.

His skin was extremely clammy, his respiration was shallow, but the most frightening thing was his weak, thready and rapid pulse; probably due to decreased blood flow. Her eyes widened, just how long had they known about this? They had to have known, he probably would've passed out before. Were the AMBU keeping guard completely ignoring him?

He was _severely_ dehydrated. If he didn't get some fluids into him _now_, he wasn't going to make it. She pressed the button, and yelled at them to get water _**now**_.

In ten minutes it was all over. But to Sakura, it felt like only a few, and even after it was over she still hadn't overcome her _own_ sense of shock. Everything was over way too quickly for it to be rational. She, needed to sit down, now, or she might lose feeling in her legs.

Suigetsu's breathing was still shallow, his eyes were half closed and covered by dark shadows. He looked like he was missing something.

"Are you going to be okay?" She asked in genuine concern. He was conscious and staring up at the ceiling, at the sound of her question he turned and stared at her coldly, but at the same time not really looking at her. More like looking _through_ her. Sakura wondered if this was what he was really like when he showed his emotions or felt vulnerable.

"Get out."

She didn't bother to argue at the finality of his voice, but for some reason- one of those strange reasons that seem to keep happening to her, she felt the need to turn and look back at him. Both pairs of eyes met, he had probably only been watching her leave. Though, for the first time truly since their childish staring contest, she really looked at him, and she found that his eyes weren't such cruel, mocking eyes after all. But just as quickly as it came it disappeared. He looked back up, averting her gaze, and no doubt dismissing it.

She blinked at him and closed the door behind her as she left.

"Not Sasuke." She reminded herself once again. "This is _not_ Sasuke."

...

It took a whole night of pondering. From when she walked home all the way to when she came to the Hokage building the next day. She was filled with indecision, but an overwhelming feeling of guilt at what had happened to him made her mind up for her at the last minute. She knew what really should be done. And at the end of the next day without Tsunade's knowledge she slipped extra water into his cell.

It was a good thing she had too. Because the next day, whether by choice of gratitude or just on a whim, he decided to begin to talk.

* * *

**A/N; It's not, really a cliffhanger, not _really_. More like something to look forward to in the next chapter? Don't hate me!**

**I'm planning on starting up another story, which might be updated more than this one until I start coming up with better ideas. Sorry.**

**But have no fear! For this WILL NOT be discontinued! X3**


	5. III

**I am Memories Faded, I have been told by two people that I give them nightmares and I do not own Naruto.**

Chapter Three

* * *

**_Perturbation_**

_-noun_

_[pur-ter-**bey**-shuhn]_

_1. the state of being perturbed; agitation._

_2. a cause of mental disquiet, disturbance, or agitation._

_

* * *

_

"So, again. What did this Juugo guy look like?"

He yawned from his spot in the corner on his mattress. Picking at something on his nail.

"Well he's tall-- no, huge actually, giant-like. He's got green eyes and bright orange hair. Acts schizo half of the time he's around."

She nodded, not bothering to fully think too much on the things he said. She had no doubt that Ibiki or an AMBU was already recording this by now. He was under constant surveillance, even when she was there. Her job now was just to keep him talking.

She was honestly surprised that he wasn't annoyed by all her questions by now. She had been repeating the same questions again and again since they had started.

"And then there's Karin, she has red hair and glasses, as I've already said." He teased mockingly. "Acts like a she has a superiority complex over everyone, like I've already said. She also has this jutsu where she...Hey, are you listening?"

She blinked. "What? Oh. Yes I'm listening."

He smiled at her mischievously, flashing her a glimpse of his sharp teeth.

"Uh-huh, sure you are."

She blushed, "Go on."

He continued to smirk knowingly. "She has this ability where she can detect large amounts of chakra and what kind of source they're coming from, where they're coming from, whatever. It's pretty lame if you ask me. Sure it's useful and all that, occasionally. But it's not worth dragging her bitchy ass everywhere."

"So you didn't like Karin?"

He whipped his head around to look at her. "Are you kidding me?! _No_! I hate that bitch!"

She watched him quietly as he went on.

"She used me for experiments! How can you '_like_' someone who treats you like a lab-rat?" He ranted.

"And I was even willing to give her the benefit of the doubt because she was under Orochimaru's orders. But _no_, she had to go and act like a complete bitch to me even after what she did. With not even a _speck_ of remorse. I acted nicer to her than I should have, really. Not only that, but she clung to Sasuke like he was some kind of sex-object all the time. It made my want to burn my eyes out."

Sakura couldn't help but smile slightly both at his completely uncharacteristic outburst and at the memory of her genin-days with her old team. When she and Ino competed over almost everything, especially Sasuke's affection.

Those were memories she'd never erase. Both of them chasing after Sasuke, Naruto chasing her, Sasuke chasing his revenge.

"What about Itachi?"

"What about Itachi?" He replied.

"Is he dead?"

He shrugged. "I don't know for sure, but I assume he is. Sasuke went to meet him, and he came back alive enough."

"Alive enough?"

He shrugged again, looking disinterestedly around the room. Doing a complete one-eighty from his previous mood swing.

She exhaled deeply, now came the moment of truth. One question she hadn't asked him yet.

"What are Akasuki's plans with Konoha?"

There was a tense moment of silence, and he sighed. "I knew that question was coming, and all I can tell you is that the only one who was informed about any plans to attack was Sasuke. We, as his team, were expected to follow without question."

"I find that hard to believe." She replied dryly. If she knew anything about him by now, she knew he wouldn't cooperate without knowing what he was doing.

He shrugged. "Believe what you want. I don't know. I can't say that I would tell you if I did know, but I don't. So you're out of luck with me. Sorry." The apology was obviously insincere.

"Is that everything?"

"Yup."

"Okay." She frowned uneasily. "What do you want?"

"What do I want? What do you _think_ I want? I want you to let me go."

"We can't do that. Not right now at least."

He groaned. "Yeah I know. But I'd at least like to get out of _here_." He motioned his shoulders around the room to indicated he was talking about the cell they were in.

"Why is that?"

He snorted. "I may not exactly be sure of how long I've been in here, but if I don't get out of this room and back to training sometime soon, I'm going to explode."

"I find that hard to believe."

He gave her a dirty look. "You know what I mean. You can't look me in the eye and honestly tell me that you wouldn't go insane if you were locked up in a dark room with constant surveillance watching your every move every fucking hour of every fucking day."

That was defiantly true.

"Look, I understand how you're feeling right now, but there's nothing I can do."

He scowled at her dangerously.

_'Not good!'_ Inner Sakura jibed.

"_Look_," He seethed mockingly. "Until I get some form of compensation for everything I've just told you. I'm not telling you anything else about Sasuke." He sneered. "That's all you want, isn't it?"

She frowned darkly at him and stood to leave. "We'll see."

* * *

Of course the walk to Tsunade's office from the interrogation cells wasn't very long. They were both in the Hokage tower, or, connected to the Hokage tower. Separated only by a series of long corridors and narrow passageways.

The 'special cases' were often held in a secret underground unit that she heard had once been Orochimaru's lab. Apparently this lab was held directly underneath the Hokage mountain. But she didn't know for sure.

All of this was highly classified information. Available only to ANUB or a select few that the Hokage would hand pick. Like herself.

She had felt very pressured lately. It was becoming increasingly difficult to keep what she was doing in the interrogation rooms a secret while her work performance and training times were beginning to become more and more out of whack. And she was running out of excuses to tell her friends when she couldn't make regular outings. She was starting to feel like an awful person.

Sakura wrote a quick report, delivered it to the Hokage with a full summary of their first real breakthrough with the prisoner. And was on her way.

She squinted and shielded her eyes as she walked from the huge building. She hadn't even realized just how bright it was today. It looked only a little past noon. Which meant...

Sakura gasped as she realized with dawning shock that she had been down in that interrogation cell with _him_ for almost over half a day!

She rubbed the back of her pounding head and groaned. She was smelly, her hair felt dirty, and she was beyond exhausted. The room down there had been extremely stuffy with all the poor ventilation. She couldn't imagine how Suigetsu could live through it, she must look like a mess.

Sakura yawned, continuing her tired walk home. All she wanted right now was to sink into a hot bath and fall asleep in her soft bed...

"Hey! Sakura-chan!" A loud and overly-cheery voice called her.

_'Oh no,'_ She thought internally. Turning her head only to confirm that it was indeed her blonde teammate running towards her at top speed.

"Sakura-chan where have you been all day?" You missed training. Naruto asked when he finally caught up to her.

"Well, um, I just had a long day at the hospital."

"Oh, I didn't know you were getting out early today."

She inwardly slapped herself, of course, she _never_ got out early. She thanked whatever gods there were that Naruto was too dull to figure it out.

He looked like he was going to ask her out like he usually would, but he stopped as he took in her appearance. "Wow Sakura-chan you look like crap."

"Thanks." She muttered sarcastically.

"Where have you been lately?"

"Nowhere."

"I haven't seen you very often."

"It's nothing."

"You haven't been on any missions in a while." He looked at her in mischievous and playful suspicion, "What are you up to?"

"It's _nothing_! Damnit Naruto, can't you mind your own business?" She snapped harshly.

She immediately regretted her words when a hurt look formed on his face.

"I'm sorry Naruto" She whispered, suddenly feeling terrible. What had Naruto done to deserve that? She had no right to be so harsh on him for no good reason.

"Sakura-chan it's alright." He said quietly looking at her with increasing concern.

"How about I take you home? And maybe after that we can go out for ramen later! My treat."

"I'm really sorry..." She said again, as if she hadn't heard him, bowing her head to hide the tears forming in her eyes.

He gave her a cautious hug, as if he expected her to hit him, and she calmed herself. But her head stayed bowed as she returned on her usual route home.

He gave her a look when they reached her door. She pretended not to see. "Are you sure you're alright Sakura-chan?" He asked again.

"Yeah" She smiled weakly "Thanks Naruto." Pulling her key from her pocket she slipped it into the lock and went inside.

She waved from her doorway, Naruto was already across the street with a sunny grin plastered on his face where it belonged.

Her smile slipped away as she closed the door. She had missed a lot of hours today, and would need to go in for the night shift in order to make up for lost time. She sighed, _'I guess the nap will have to wait.'_

* * *

"So she just snapped at you like that?"

"Yeah, I don't get it." Naruto watched his half-empty ramen bowl with a troubled expression. "I've never seen her get so worked up over nothing. Usually when she's pissed she'll beat the crap out of me. But she just freaked out and then started apologizing." He sighed, returning to his bowl. "I just don't get it."

"She has been acting strange lately." Shikamaru said, "From what I've noticed. I don't see her all that much."

Naruto turned to the quiet girl sitting at the corner. "Hinata, do you think you could talk to her?"

The shy girl blushed at being put under the spotlight. "Um, w..well I could try. But I think Ino would get better luck than me."

"That's true." Shikamaru grumbled. "She'll force it out of her."

"It's probably nothing." Naruto shrugged.

Shikamaru sighed. "Alright, I'll ask Ino to talk to her."

Naruto grinned broadly. "Thanks man." Slapping him on the back. "I owe you one."

"Let's add it to the list." The lazy genius muttered.

* * *

Sakura couldn't have been any more tired when she got home for the second time that day.

It was past midnight, and despite the hours she was working, it had been utter chaos at the hospital after a group of kids who found some spare exploding tags were brought in by panicky parents.

And panicky parents were very difficult to deal with. Along with bleeding kids, a limited staff, and a very short temper due to sleep loss and over-exertion.

She swore, if she hadn't gotten out of there after that she would have demolished the whole damn hospital twice over by now.

Kicking off her shoes, Sakura all but fell into her bed and passed out in her cool sheets.

It wasn't two minutes after she had fallen asleep that a phone began to ring.

_'Ignore that.' _Her inner growled. She groaned and pulled a pillow over her head to drown out the sound.

But whoever it was, wasn't letting up.

She uttered a string of profanities as she reached for the phone.

"What?" She snapped harshly, seconds away from chewing the ear off whoever was so unfortunate as to call her this late.

There was a moment of silence. Then her eyes widened, she felt her blood freeze. "He _what_?!" She choked.

But they didn't get a chance to answer. She was already getting up. "I'm on my way." She said, hanging up before they could finish.

Grabbing her shoes and medic apron she scrambled out the door as fast as she could.

* * *

**A/N; I hate Karin/Suigetsu pairings. It's like people just put them together because they need to hook that bitch up with someone other than Sasuke. XP**


	6. IV part I

**I am Memories Faded, I am extremely grateful that reviews are not changed when chapters are replaced and I do not own Naruto.**

Chapter Four

* * *

**_Defenestration_**

_-noun_

_[dee-fen-uh-**strey**-shuhn]_

_1. the act of throwing something or someone out of a window._

* * *

Sakura paced back and forth in the hallway.

The hospital staff had refused to allow her in the room while they worked on him. Which pissed her off to the extreme point of where she was about ready to throw them all one by one out of the hospital with their own broken limbs and fix him up herself.

_'If he dies, we lose our chance to find Sasuke.'_ Her mind repeated, over and over. And with every time she turned around to pace the other way her thoughts became louder, and with every passing minute she grew more and more anxious.

But she also had to ask herself. '_Is that the only reason why I care?' _

Shoving _that_ thought way back into the dark depths of her mind, Sakura sighed deeply and tried to take calming breaths. All these thoughts were making her dizzy, along with her continued pacing. Finally she sat down on a nearby couch, and fell into a light and troubled sleep.

Finally, after what felt like hours since she first arrived, a nurse woke to tell her that she could see him.

She had to suppress a gasp at just the sight of him when she entered his room.

He was a _wreck_.

Suigetsu's body was in an even worse state than it had been the first day she saw him. He had black and purple bruises all over him. His arm was casted, his ribs were bandaged and for some reason, he was still awake.

Suigetsu gave her something that looked similar to his usual grin, but on his battered and bruised face, looked unnatural and broken. When she got closer to him she realized that a few of his teeth were actually missing.

"Hey, it's my nurse." The mischievous gleam in his eyes was still present as always. And somehow, that gave her a little comfort.

"Looks like they didn't hit you hard enough." She mumbled as she sat beside him. He chuckled at her.

She leaned in and looked closer at his face. "They didn't do that good of a job fixing your face, did they?"

"No," He said, a little bitterly. "They were too worried about the severely bleeding parts of me."

She snorted at him.

"Actually," he pointed weakly to a petri dish next to her. "Do you think you can reattach those?"

Upon closer inspection, Sakura realized that the three white objects in the dish were in fact his missing teeth.

She growled, "You're unbelievable! You could at least tell me what the hell you did to end up like this first."

She spoke angrily, but nonetheless, she reattaced all three. Pausing momentarily when she finished to rub her thumb over his bottom lip.

His eyes widened, and for a second he was literally shocked speechless. But as always, he recovered quickly.

"Oh, and here I thought you weren't worried about me." He mock-whined. She shot him a dirty look.

"How did this happen?" Sakura asked again, keeping her tone serious.

He sighed heavily and then winced, probably at his hurt ribs. "I insulted one of them, they say. So they took it upon themselves to teach me a lesson."

"But what could you have done to make them so angry? They beat you into unconsciousness and left you to bleed to death in your cell."

"Well, I wouldn't say they _purposely_ wanted to kill me..."

She gave him another dark look.

"Fine, you know how good I am at insulting people." Her expression tightened, she nodded stiffly.

"I simply taunted them to the point where one completely lost it."

She shook her head, confused and angry at his reckless behavior. "But _why_ the hell would you do something like that?"

He sighed heavily again, and winced again. "Honestly? It was because I wanted out of that damn cell."

She felt her jaw drop momentarily. Unbelievable, he really was _unbelievable. _"You nearly got yourself _killed _just to get up here? Not to try to escape?"

"Pretty much."

"Why don't you request another place? With all the information you've passed Tsunade could probably get you up closer to the surface."

"That takes too long, and I _hate_ it down there."

"You can wait a few days can't you?" That was a stupid question, considering how impatient and hard-headed he constantly was.

"Why can't I live with you?"

Sakura blinked, completely dumbfounded at the question. "You'd rather live with me?"

"I'd rather live with you in your house than in a more elaborated prison cell still guarded by ANBU twenty-four hours a day."

Well, when he put it that way...

"I'm sure your Hokage wouldn't argue too much if it was you who convinced her."

_That_ wasn't true.

"You're serious?"

"Do I look unsure to you?"

No, the expression he had on was probably the most serious she had ever seen on him. Ever.

"I'll think about it. And see what I can do."

...

The sun was just rising as she went home, intending to sleep on Suigetsu's suggestion. Though once she had returned to the soft sheets of her bed, despite her lack of rest, Sakura had a hard time falling asleep.

* * *

The next day was a nightmare.

Another call from the hospital about two hours after she had returned had Sakura convinced that she was going to die of sleep loss.

An emergency C-section this time, not another wounded shark-boy.

Births were one of the very, very few subjects that Sakura had not had too much experience with yet. The best she could do was control most of the bleeding as the other doctors around her brought the new baby boy into the world.

Sakura had always secretly found babies under ten weeks old hideous. But she'd never tell that to anyone, especially not the exhausted but thrilled new mother who held her newborn with such loving affection. She probably didn't even know how close she had come to dying if it had not been for the young medic and the other staff working so hard to save her.

Sakura smiled wearily, it was tiring, working when she was already so worn out. But times like these reminded her why it was so great that she had the power to save lives.

Ten minutes after a new life was brought into the world, when Sakura decided that she might as well just stay in the hospital rather than waste more time walking home, an emergency was called to a familiar wing of the hospital. And Sakura just knew that something terrible had just happened.

Indeed something had. For the second time in a forty-two hour period, Suigetsu Houzuki had his second brush with death. This time the most severe. But this time she was there. And it was only because the young medic was there that he survived. If the hospital hadn't called her in to help deliver that baby, or if she had decided to go straight home after it was over with, he would have bled out and died before she reached the hospital.

* * *

"He said it was someone different who attacked him."

Tsunade watched her student with a troubled expression, her fingers were woven together and her chin rested over them.

The implication was there. No other shinobi was capable of putting such a powerful jutsu under a well trained Mist shinobi. Kiri, the village that was famed for it's terrifying shinobi who could hide in the thickest of fog and rely on the sense of smell and sound alone to locate their unfortunate opponents. Creators of the infamous Kirigakure no Jutsu, a mix between a ninjutsu and a genjutsu that surrounded the area in heavy mist, which could not be dispelled unless by an equally powerful technique that counteracted both the illusion and the water technique in it. First created by the original founders of the land who themselves were masters in all water jutsu.

There was no way a simple genjutsu would work on a shinobi like Suigetsu who was trained to recognize these type of techniques, unless it was a jutsu created from the Sharingan, or another rare and powerful bloodline limit.

"Sakura, you know that isn't possible. All the other Uchiha are dead, none of them could have just slipped into the hospital that easily. I also highly doubt that Sasuke is skilled enough to sneak through our village unnoticed. There is an invisible force covering Konoha that alerts our ANBU the moment a foreign shinobi enters our village. You know that. And we've already increased security as much as we can to protect Naruto."

"His brother did it." Sakura argued.

"Itachi was an ANBU captain, Sakura. And his brother is dead. Reliable sources just confirmed it." Tsunade replied

"So he was telling us the truth." She said hopefully. Maybe too hopefully.

"He may be Sakura, but that doesn't mean we can let our guard down with him."

"If I let him _think_ that I'm letting my guard down around him he might do the same."

"_Might_." Tsunade emphasized.

"If he dies, all the information about Sasuke goes with him. What makes you think that I can't do this?" Sakura pleaded.

"It's not that, Sakura," Tsunade sighed. "I just don't want you to get too attached to him."

Sakura's eyes lowered to the floor. Was it because they would probably execute him? Or was it because Tsunade didn't want him to become another Sasuke?

"Just give me a chance Sensei." She whispered. "Please?"

Tsunade sighed again. The stress from the whole situation was throughly wearing her out. All she wanted to do right now was reach under her desk, grab another sake bottle and fall asleep on her paperwork.

"Alright Sakura, I'll give you a chance. But I want you to know I'm only doing this because I trust you, and I trust that you know what you're doing."

The Hokage's eyes met her apprentice's. "Just be careful."

* * *

In no less than two weeks since the second attack and her meeting with Tsunade, both Medic and Shark-nin found themselves standing alone in front of the Fifth Hokage's desk. The older woman was eyeing them both with a stern look on her face. Suigetsu was the only one bold enough to speak first.

"So my arm stays broken?"

"So you can't do any jutsu." Tsunade replied. "But it's only your left one, you can train well right-handed can't you?"

"Yeah, but usually I need both of my arms for that." The teenager said glumly.

From her spot beside him, Sakura had to fight hard to contain a laugh at her mentor's sarcasm and the boy's sulkiness.

She turned to look at him slightly. She hadn't ever seen him so sorely disappointed looking and pleased at the same time.

Tsunade glared darkly at him. "One wrong move, and I'll break every bone in you and throw you back in that cell."

He wanted to say something cheeky back to her. Sakura could feel it. But he didn't. For once making a smart move.

Tsunade rubbed the bridge of her nose,

What had _they all_ gotten themselves into?

* * *

**A/N; I skipped the second attack scene, for now.**

**I went back and looked at my latest chapters and was sorta like 'Dude, what the hell happened?' So yeah, maybe I should work on them a little more before posting them.**

**Thank you so much Chibi-Ra-Chan, you're story blew me away, honestly. I doubt I could keep going if it wasn't for amazing reviewers like you**

**X']**

**Leave reviews, please let me know how I'm doing.**


	7. IV part II

**I am Memories Faded, my year is only complete when I watch Shark Week on Discovery and I do not own Naruto.**

Chapter Four

* * *

_**Emancipate**_

_-verb_

_[e-**man**-ci-pate]_

_1. to free from restraint_

_2. to release from bondage, oppression or restraint_

* * *

There were no extra rooms in Sakura's tiny apartment. So she had to convince him to sleep on the floor in her living-room long enough for her next paycheck to come in, then she could buy him his own cot.

Needless to say, he didn't like that idea. Not one bit.

Their voices rose to the point to where her neighbors started pounding on the wall for her to keep it down. And the worst part was that Suigetsu wasn't even taking the argument seriously. He was just using her short temper fuse as a _[not-so]_ new means of entertainment.

Sakura was starting to regret ever allowing him into her house.

She managed to convince him to sleep on her couch, somehow. The only problem after that was keeping him _still_.

First, he wanted to go outside, then he wanted to go back inside and raid her fridge. Then, he wanted his damn sword back so he could train—though she wasn't permitted to let him have it, _she wouldn't even if she could._ Then he wanted to use her bathroom for some reason. Then he was throwing a fit because his chakra anklet didn't allow him to use any jutsu, but, in all honesty he should have already known that.

And even as all this was going on Sakura was still just trying to get her house clean enough for a guest. She didn't know how to respond to his sudden indecisiveness.

But she could understand it a little at least. This was the young man who had gotten himself nearly beaten to death just to get out of his cell. Now that he had freedom, he was over-whelmed by his lack of limitations and was probably unsure of just what to do with it.

Then Sakura was beginning to stress about work. She still had hospital shifts to meet. And she wasn't allowed to leave him out of her sight for hours at a time for obvious reasons even if it _was_ for working to save lives. This could also potentially put her into serious trouble if people started asking questions about her off behavior. Something that Sakura _did not_ need right then.

But that answered itself when she found Kakashi standing outside on her doorstep with a familiar eye crinkle and a wave. Tsunade, apparently, had thought ahead and sent him on a mission to watch over the captive while she was out. Being an highly-skilled ANBU made him more than capable. And it was much less suspicious than random black ops coming in an out of her house while she went to work.

Sakura couldn't have been more relieved.

Suigetsu however, wasn't the least bit pleased with the arrangement. He made it clear that he was unhappy with it to the point where he was almost sulking like a child who hadn't gotten his way. Standing in the corner with his arms crossed, bangs shadowing over his eyes and refusing to answer to anything Sakura said to him.

He was acting like a selfish brat, and he knew it too, but he couldn't care any less.

This did nothing to Sakura except remind her how young he really was. And how annoying in a near-Naruto like way he could be.

She ignored him as best as she could. But she still felt the holes he burned into her every time her back was turned to him, as if all of this was her fault. As if she could have control over the entire situation.

It was terribly ungrateful, considering it was a near-miracle that he had actually been released from confinement. Even if it was just replaced with house arrest.

But underneath the heavy of blame her threw at her, there was a hint of...

_Anger, hurt even?_

Did she dare to lean that far? He didn't even seem human most of the time.

_More like jealousy._

At not being the complete center of her attention that he had become used to.

Because he had lost the battle; He had never stopped his cruel pursuit to destroy her mentally. Being out of his cell meant that Sakura was forced to keep a close eye on him all the time. Not just hours a day, where afterwards she could escape and recover her damaged pride and self-esteem. No, he wanted her to be unguarded and defenseless all the time so he could pick her apart from the inside out whenever he wanted. _He_ wanted to make _her_ his prisoner. And now he could. He could toy with her emotions, manipulate and torment until--

Until what?

It was frustrating to say the least, that no matter how intelligent she was she still couldn't figure out what his primary goal was.

Maybe he had no goal at all. Maybe all he wanted was her to become so paranoid that would no longer be able to move, no longer be able to _breathe_ without thinking, and over-thinking and wrapping circles around herself.

Sakura turned to look back at the other boy, who was still sending her the cold shoulder.

Was he still trying to ruin her?

Or did he just want to control her?

_..or own her._

* * *

Suigetsu watched as Sakura tidied her house with detached interest. Today was her first day off, leaving both teenagers alone in her small apartment, and besides grocery shopping, --which, she was planning on doing later, seeing as she'd have to find a good excuse to anyone outside who saw them in public together. Sakura's main goal was to scrub clean any evidence that her old teacher and her prisoner slash tormentor had ever even been _around_ her house, as both of them had made her week a living hell even if Kakashi hadn't meant to do so on purpose. And though she could feel _his_ eyes on her, as usual, she managed to ignore him almost completely.

Almost, because there was only one problem. Ever since he had first stepped out of Sakura's bathroom just that morning, Suigetsu had refused to put a shirt on. For no good reason except his own.

Normally Sakura Haruno could keep a tight reign on her hormones like a good kunoichi would. But the sight of the freshly bathed and half-naked missing-nin walking down her hallway, bare feet padding on the floor like the bad-boy he knew he was. In pair of borrowed loose fitting jeans riding low on his hips, absently drying his hair with one hand as he went, was almost enough to barrel her over onto the floor. Partially because it was an unexpected move, he had never tried any tactic other than mental degradation on her. But mostly because she had never thought that he was actually that _attractive_. So much so that she almost forgot who exactly this young man was and how miserable he had made her life through the past weeks.

Maybe it was because he knew that she would find him good-looking, which in all honestly she already had before. He was just so_ pale_, without being in a fish-belly or pasty kind of way. Lean and perfectly proportional to the man he would soon grow in to. The muscles under his skin hardly visible, except when he flexed or twisted in _just_ the _right_ direction. Enough to make Sakura shiver, even as she faced away from him. Scars of varying types were spread in various place all over him, proving that he had already been in quite a few fights in his still early years as a ninja, none were so bad as to distort him. Solidifying his bad-boy appearance and personality_. _All the marks from his recent encounters with death were barely visible on his body, thanks to Sakura's offer to better close up his scars. She had probably set herself up for that one. But when it came to Suigetsu, Sakura didn't even know what to think.

It was distracting her. It was distracting her, and he _knew it_. This wasn't an innocent accident, or an attempt at seduction. If he wanted to get in her pants she was almost certain that he would be more up-front about it. He wasn't just teasing her, he was _mocking_ her. Because he made it obvious that he was still irritable about their present situation when she left for work.

But this was the first time that he had ever tried anything even close a sexual nature, and he was probably pleased about the reaction she was giving him. Sakura scowled at the thought

He waited until she finished the kitchen and moved into the living room to speak, still refusing to look at him.

"You were watching me." He said in a strange monotone voice. So, he _was_ pleased after all.

She didn't say anything. So he tried a different method.

"Did you ever look at _Sasuke_ like that?" At the mention of her former teammate, in that cruel and mocking voice, she stiffened and faced him.

"Why does it matter?" She snapped, hackles immediately raised. Effectively taking the bait.

"You must have." He grinned cruelly. "You didn't deny it."

"I didn't conform it either."

"You didn't need to."

"You mentioned him out of nowhere, you were trying to get me pissed off enough to drop my guard."

He rose an eyebrow at her quick but correct assumption, and opened his mouth to throw a retort back in her face when a sudden knock at her door broke their argument. Sakura moved to answer it, but Suigetsu took her arm.

"Where are you going?" He asked, as if it wasn't so blatantly obvious.

"To get the door." Sakura snapped back, snatching her arm away.

"Why?"

Sakura blinked. What was he doing? Playing out the ignorant role or just being stupid? The knocking on her door quickly turned to pounding, Sakura turned away again to answer it, satisfied that he let her go without further argument or complaints.

The pounding ceased as she turned the knob and opened the door inwardly, Naruto's sunny grin met her unprepared.

"Hey Sakura-chan, you weren't home before when I came to take you out for some ramen, so I was wondering if-"

"Sakura who's that?" Suigetsu's voice came from down the hall, his head peeked out to look at whoever was at her door. His hands were busy folding the laundry she had been planning to do later like the good boy he was obviously pretending to be. Since he had first arrived, Suigetsu had completely refused to do any housework, end of story. Starting an argument about how it was 'women's work' just to get her in a bad mood. Which worked, as their argument escalated to the point where it became impossible to tell what exactly they were fighting about. Sakura realized it was pointless to even try, and didn't bother bringing it up again afterwards.

''_Women's work my ass.'_ Sakura seethed inwardly, as it became clear that he was already perfectly capable of folding clothes. He had taken the time it took to answer the door to feign innocence. The clever bastard.

Startled back into reality by Naruto's confused express, Sakura felt her mind go numb in a sudden epiphany.

_'Shit!'_ Her mind ranted. _'I never told anyone about letting him into my house! And this is still supposed to be and undercover mission!'_

"Uhh..um." She stuttered, confused on how exactly to explain his presence without giving anything away. The rising panic in her body was doing nothing to help her think.

She didn't need to see Suigetsu to know that he was pleased by the dangerous situation that she was in. She would have strangled him if he had been in arms reach of her. Naruto in front of her or not....

Looking for a quick way out without acting too guilty, Sakura tried the timid approach in hopes that her teammate would see her distress and just go away.

"C-can you come by later Naruto?"

Obviously that was the wrong thing to say, because then Naruto was bursting through her door and pointing an accusing finger at Suigetsu. He had seen her distress just perfectly, and promptly interpreted it in every wrong way possible.

Suigetsu watched expressionlessly as Naruto glared at him.

"You! You're the reason why Sakura was been so busy lately! You're the one who's causing her trouble and making her so stressed out."

_Oh, he had _no_ idea._

"Yes." Suigetsu replied honestly. Sakura felt her stomach twist and drop to her knees. She really shouldn't have expected anything worse to come from him. But _really_? The truth at such a terrible time to admit anything?

"You had to tell the truth?" She didn't even realize she was speaking until both of them looked at her with complete opposite expressions. Naruto was angry and slightly horrified, Suigetsu was surprised and a bit pleased.

Naruto turned, honestly looking like he was going to launch himself at the other male. And the taunting grin Suigetsu was sending him was doing no good in backing him down...

Save for the cast still on his arm, Suigetsu now was both physically and mentally capable of meeting Naruto head on. The arm had healed much too quickly since he had first moved in, little more than a week ago. Perhaps, due to his abilities somehow. Jutsu or not, he knew as long as he didn't overexert his injured arm too much, he would be near-impossibly hard to stop. And Sakura knew it too. His heart had been all too too eager for a new fight since he had been captured.

Then the phone rang.

It was like the starting bell as the both of them sudden dove at each other with what _looked_ like the intent to kill. Leaving Sakura to desperately try to stop them without getting mixed in to the fight.

_Oh Gods, they were going to destroy her apartment!_

The situation was quickly becoming out of hand. Glass was everywhere, both males where shouting back and forth at each other, and the phone was _still ringing._

She ducked away from the both of them and picked up the offending item at the exact moment Naruto launched another attack at Suigetsu. Only to be subjected to a shrill and angry voice from Ino on the other line for having to wait so long for her to answer.

She muffled the phone as well as she could. But Ino caught the rapidly intensifying noises.

"Forehead, what's going on?"

"Ino," she whispered, wincing as a loud crash echoed from the other room. "This _really_ isn't a good time."

From the sound of the pause, and "I'm coming over."

"No! wait Ino!" But it was too late, she had already hung up.

Sakura took a deep calming breath and forced herself up, intending on stopping the two before things got too out of hand.

And then a lamp whizzed past her head, missing her by inches, breaking into pieces against the wall behind her.

She looked back at both boys, who had momentarily stopped to watch her, Naruto had _'guilty' _written all over his face.

"S-sorry, Sakura-chan." He said weakly, frightingly aware of how short her temper was.

Suigetsu was watching them in sadistic satisfaction. His breathing was still calm and steady. The only difference between him now and the Suigetsu from about several minutes ago was that his slightly wet hair was now tousled in an extremely sexy way.

And Sakura almost _never_ described anything as 'sexy'. She felt it was degrading and too overly-used by Ino.

But that was simply the only way to put into words what she was seeing. He had a bit of a flush from the scuffle, and the way his body was poised in a way to ready attack or defend in a moment's notice made her....

She caught herself. _Made her what?_

"Sakura-chan, why are you staring?" Naruto asked, any trace of fear replaced by puzzlement.

The shark boy grinned at her, opened his mouth and...

licked his lips in a slow and teasing manner.

Naruto lost it.

* * *

Suigetsu landed hard on his back on the ground outside. Gaining a startled shriek from the blonde girl who had been approaching the front door. What made matters worse was when he began laughing hysterically even as Naruto jumped through the open window that he had just thrown the other boy out of.

Ino was unprepared for that. Just as she was unprepared for Sakura to burst out of her door, and nearly run into her.

_What the hell was going on?_

"What the hell is going on?!" She suddenly demanded, as Sakura forcibly ripped Naruto away from Suigetsu who continued to laugh.

Naruto sobered up quickly and stood straight up to fix his appearance.

And Sakura could do nothing but stand there awkwardly as two equally confused and thunderstruck blondes looked at her, silently demanding an explanation.

There had been no information given any time during the period that Naruto arrived. Now that his head was clear from his raging anger, he also wanted to know just what the hell was going on. Starting with the strange, shirtless other male who had been folding laundry _[innocently]_ when he had first looked past her door.

"This is my--" She began, but Suigetsu barged in, wrapping an arm around her waist "Boyfriend."

She gaped at him in a mix of shock and mortification, hoping with every fiber of her being that at least Ino would see through the bluff.

_"Roommate."_ She hissed testily, after another pair of confused looks came her way. She pushed Suigetsu's still naked torso away from her.

"Right." Ino chided. "Well, I think Naruto and I can leave now so you can clean up. But you'll be telling me all about your _'roommate'_ later." With that, the lighter blonde grabbed Naruto by the collar and dragged him away despite his loud protests.

Sakura blinked in surprise, shocked that Ino had just dropped it at that. Then she groaned, fingers making their way into her hair. She knew Ino would tell everyone by the end of the day tomorrow. And she'd have a lot more explaining to do if Tsunade found out about this....

She sighed. On the bright side, it could have been worse....At least _she_ was fully dressed.

"Well, I think we showed them." Suigetsu grinned triumphantly.

Of course he was triumphant, he had just been given far better entertainment than just Sakura's usual bad temper. He had been given a shot at assessing just how exactly the Kyuubi carrier fought when aggravated enough. Though it wasn't enough to let any of the demon's chakra out, it had been satisfying nonetheless. But Sakura was currently oblivious to all of that.

"I hate you." She replied.

"Come on! I was just screwing with him!" Suigetsu whined.

"Yeah, you should really stop doing that." She muttered sourly as she stalked back into the house, too mentally and physically exhausted to be angry for the time being.

* * *

**A/N; This chapter is dedicated to Chibi-Ra-Chan. Though I don't think it nearly compensates that beautiful SuiSaku one-shot. And I hope the sight of a half-naked image of Suigetsu makes up for being so late. Three cheers for shitty first impressions! Woo-Woo!**

* * *


	8. V

**Readers Be Warned, This Story Is Rated M For A Reason**

**I am Memories Faded, I aspire to be the world's greatest female serial killer and I do not own Naruto.**

Chapter Five

* * *

_**Concupiscence**_

_-noun_

_[kon-**kyoo**-pi-suhns]_

_1. sexual desire; lust_

_2. ardent, usually sensuous, longing._

* * *

_He kissed her with bruising force, unzipping her shirt while trying to push them both into her room without breaking from her. He kicked the door shut, parting from her only to lift up her bra and his own shirt. He wound his hand at the base of her skull on her neck to push her more forcefully into the kiss. His other hand reaching to cup her breast, fingers ghosting over soft skin, making her moan and blush at the same time, then gasp and arch into him when his rough but warm palm traced over her back._

_Then she took the control. She locked her gaze purposely with his. Pushing him back on her bed. Forcing him to keep looking at her while she unbuttoned his pants._

_He didn't have anything underneath. She felt his stomach tighten, a shudder passing through his whole body as she traced the soft flesh of his lower abdomen. He leaned back and closed his eyes, hissing as she made slow contact with his hardening arousal. The guttural noise of approval he made in the back of his throat was enough for her to continue. _

_Eventually, he showed her how to touch him. To pump and not to just stroke, squeezing lightly as he groaned and bucked into her hand as encouragement._

_Quickly growing tired of being the focus of attention, he lifted her off of him and pushed her until she was back fully on the bed._

_Their mouths were parted barely from each other as they both groaned at the feeling of him entering her. His forehead rested on her collarbone as if just to savor the feel of her, before he plunged the rest of the way inside._

Sakura jolted awake suddenly, red-faced and panting. Momentary confusion muddled her thoughts and she had to forcefully will her stiff muscles to relax. She fell limp once she realized that she was, in fact, still in her room alone. Then she settled back down and stared at her ceiling.

After she blinked away the dots in her vision and sleep-induced disorientation, the full impact of what just happened slammed right into her face.

...Oh, she did not just dream that. She _so_ did _not_ just dream _that_ with **him** in it.

Embarrassment and horror filled up her insides, and all she could do was grimace and curl herself into a ball underneath her covers. As if that would reverse the whole ordeal.

Sakura wasn't sure at that moment what she'd rather do, bury herself into a deep hole in the ground until all her disturbing hormones finally stopped screwing with her head, or punch that bastard in the face for helping to put them there.

She leaning in for the latter.

Though it might not be a very good reason, (As in professional, like hell if it _wasn't_ a good reason) to beat him into the ground, it still worked well enough for her to finally let loose and completely detonate on him.

And there weren't many other people she could take it out on.

How would she even begin to explain it to Naruto?

She shuddered. _Don't even go there._

Sakura forced herself out of her sheets. Ignoring the protests from her wobbly legs as she got up and moved far away from where she had just dreamed.._that_, with..._him_.

_Now who was it who said that girls couldn't have nocturnal emissions?_ She wondered as she stumbled her way into the bathroom, determined to take a nice, long, _cold_ shower.

* * *

About seventy kilometers from the nearest village in the river country was where Sasuke Uchiha had brought his remaining two members after the ambush that they had suffered weeks earlier. Both himself and Juugo only obtained minor injuries, while Karin had been badly injured, and needed Juugo's help in carrying her for a majority of the trip.

What mostly was injured however, was Sasuke's pride.

The remaining Uchiha heir had spoken only a few words when he needed to and nothing else. Driving them even harder away from the Fire Country border then when he had driven them into it.

While the victory had been pure luck on Leaf's side - when they attacked all four were unprepared and outnumbered. Sasuke still should have done better than to have let one of his teammates be captured. But it had happened so quickly that he did not even know that Suigetsu had been taken until he was already putting distance between him and the ambushers.

He was worried, not for Suigetsu's safety per say, but really because of the fact that the other boy still had a lot of information that Konoha could use in finding him. And Suigetsu had made it clear in the beginning that he would willingly work with Sasuke, but he wasn't on Sasuke's side.

The other boy really was a slippery one, quite literally. Sasuke was almost completely sure that Suigetsu would take the first opportunity to escape available. But he was also fairly impulsive. His desire to obtain the Seven Legendary Swords was what Sasuke had been using to keep Suigetsu on his side. If he got a chance to fulfill his goal while he was inside Leaf that was also to Leaf's benefit in finding Sasuke, he would be likely to take it.

This left Sasuke in a very tight situation.

But really where could he go from the position he was in now? There was no way he was going back to Pein with a broken team, running away from his birth village like a beaten mutt with his tail between his legs. It would be a major blow to his already wounded ego, not to mention that there was no definite guarantee that Pein would be able to locate Suigetsu's current position. To him, there was only one open option left.

"We need to head back into Konoha." He said firmly.

Karin openly gaped at him, Juugo just stared in surprise.

"A-are you sure Sasuke-kun?" Karin stammered a bit more timidly than usual.

"Yes."

"Are we going to rescue Suigetsu?" Juugo asked.

He was silent for a moment, weighing his options and what to tell his remaining team.

"No, we'll wait for him to escape. Until then we'll just be keeping an eye out on the village."

Yes, that would also award him a reasonable explanation to give Pein if the shadowy leader decided to ask him what he was up to, while keeping close enough to the village to be there when the ex-Mist nin managed to escape.

They both nodded in understanding. Neither daring to question or object to him.

Of course Sasuke didn't even know for sure if Suigetsu would try to escape. But either way, the boy's most logical move was going to be getting out of Konoha so he could continue to gather the remaining swords. And that was when Sasuke would need to be there.

They didn't immediately move. Instead the Uchiha heir volunteered to keep watch until dawn.

* * *

Sakura hated her life at home.

And Sakura hated her life at home because ever since the day that Suigetsu had first decided to waltz half-naked, quite comfortably around her, he had made efforts to shoot knowing smirks in her direction every time they were alone.

Suigetsu didn't even have to say anything to her to get her riled up. Truthfully he was probably better when he was talking.

Okay, that was a little exaggerated.

The point was that he only had to give her a certain look at just the right time for her to lose her temper.

And he did that, a lot.

Around her, she could almost physically feel the metaphorical time-bomb that was slowly counting down to the moment when she would finally just snap and beat the living shit out of him.

It had been two weeks since Suigetsu had first moved in with her. And now Sakura was at the point where she wondered in her spare time just which gods she must have pissed off bad enough for her to be stuck with such a horrible roommate.

The house arrest that Tsunade had placed upon the former Taka member was beginning to feel more and more like her own house arrest. Granted that Kakashi was still there to watch him when she was away. But those moments were becoming fewer and shorter, as Tsunade found it in herself to start paying Sakura more and having her come in to work at the hospital less.

The reason for this was simple, it would only be so long until Kakashi was needed to go on some important mission that took him away from the village. And people would start asking questions that would eventually lead to the general public knowing that Sakura was keeping an imprisoned foreign ninja in her house. So far no one other than herself, Tsunade, Shizune, Anko and a few others from the interrogation team, Kakashi and the village elders knew about Suigetsu and that he was being held inside of Sakura's small apartment. Anyone else and that could lead to panic, disputes against the Hokage's decision, or her apprentice's daily life possibly being cut off from the rest of the village.

It didn't help that Suigetsu was constantly getting her to lose her temper, and her neighbors were starting to ask questions.

She still had yet to talk to Ino, and that was beginning to eat at the back of her mind slowly as time progressed. For Sakura had no idea what the gossipy blonde had already told people. And if that eventually spread to Shikamaru or Neji...

But she tried to push all such thoughts as far away as possible for the time being.

And so inevitably, when a day came where Suigetsu was being a bit more figity than usually, Sakura finally relented and agreed to take him outside on a number of rules. Like no talking to anyone, no running off, and above all no revealing who he really was.

Strangely enough, he actually listened – for the most part.

This was where Sakura currently found herself, walking alongside him through the streets of Konoha drifting in and out of her reflections of days previous.

"This place looks out of shape for such the grand village it's famed to be." Suigetsu mused, and Sakura was lucky enough to have been focused sufficiently enough to hear him.

She shrugged. "Konoha is still a shinobi village. It's been destroyed and rebuilt about several times over its history, so no one expects anything to last forever. That's why all the buildings seemed so thrown-together."

Suigetsu made a noise, either of understanding or disinterest, or maybe both.

"It's almost the exact opposite reason in Mist. Being an island makes Kirigakure difficult to invade but that still hasn't saved the place from upheavals."

Sakura gave him a sideways glance. How could he be so open about the village he came from yet not about anything else? Well, not himself at least.

So the casual banter continued. And Sakura was content in the simple fact that they were getting along.

"We're not fighting." Sakura pointed out.

"I know." He replied, he turned to smirk at her. "It's funny how nice I can decide to be when I get what I want, isn't it?"

She snorted, _selfish brat_.

Of course it was in the instant where a calm silence had them both pleasantly in its grasp when a high-pitched voice ruined the moment.

"Oh, Saku_ra_!"

The pink-haired medic felt herself wince. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught Suigetsu's quick frown before he forced his expression to return to normal.

Ino marched up to the both of them, hands on her hips, with a triumphant grin. Probably expecting to find them both in public together eventually.

She opened her mouth for an excuse, or a insult that she could use to get Ino's attention away from the boy beside her. But Ino beat her to it. "Save it forehead. You're going to tell me everything." She snapped, grabbing Sakura's arm and dragging her away. Much to the medic's distress.

Sakura swallowed her protests, instead she used the few seconds she had spare to shoot her companion a sharp glare that clearly said. Don't even THINK about it. To the boy who had already started to slowly began to inch away.

Thank whatever God who loved her enough to make Ino too naïve or too idiotic to look Suigetsu's description up in the bingo book already while she had the time.

The pink-haired medic sighed, and braced herself as Ino finally had her way in tugging her friend into a nearby ramen booth. Her brain knew that she had to come up with a buy-able excuse as fast as she could before Suigetsu decided to run off before she could get back to him.

"Tell me." Ino hissed. Cutting straight down to the point. But luckily her impatience was just what Sakura needed at the moment.

The medic paused, swallowing nervously. "Okay the truth is.." She paused for a dramatic effect while still secretly searching for a workable excuse. "He's – He's actually my _cousin_."

Ino blinked at her, and Sakura couldn't help but wince at the horrible lie.

She stared at Sakura for a moment, mouth opening and closing a few times before she forced actual words out. "Really? Because, uh....you two look nothing alike." Sakura was unable to hide her momentary confusion.

_'Shit, she actually _believes_ me?'_

"Yeah, I know. It's sort of distant. He's my step-uncle's adopted nephew twice removed."

"Oh." And just like that, Ino dropped it. Again. "I guess I'll have to tell Choji and Shikamaru that all those rumors weren't true after all."

Sakura felt her eye twitch.

"All _what_ rumors?"

"Uh, yeah." Ino smiled sheepishly. "Well I have to go, I'll see you later?" She asked timidly.

Inner Sakura was doing a gleeful victory dance. Outer Sakura was struggling not to grin at Ino's sudden, out of character nervousness as the blonde quickly fled the scene. Probably afraid of pissing her friend off bad enough to give Sakura a good reason to stop talking to her. Though that might have been nice.

Suigetsu came up behind her as she left the stand. Close enough so that she could feel his body heat. And startled, she jumped, whirling around.

"...You didn't run off." She said simply, unable to hide the gratitude in her eyes.

He grinned, and leaned down to whisper into her ear, his warm breath forced her to suppress shivers. "It's funny how nice I can decide to be when I get what I want, isn't it?" And with that, he crashed his lips down onto hers.

* * *

**A/N; Honestly, I wanted to make it longer. But I wanted it to come out on time even more. I'm also a little dissatisfied with this chapter. -_-**

**To all of you who reviewed; I'd like to give a special thanks for all of your words of encouragement. And for your support, despite my late updating. :]**

**Can anyone else imagine an alternative universe Suigetsu with an ultra-sexy Australian accent?**

**ALSO! As of today, I am now a year older! So even if you're not going to leave a review for the story, leave a review for me for my birthday! :]  
**


	9. Intermission You

**A/N; ****Update, 8/22/09**

**I changed the song from _Away_ to _You_, again the song doesn't go with either Sakura or Suigetsu's characters or their relationship. But I just thought it was better. XP**

**I was originally going to use _Carry Me Down_, by Demon Hunter, but that title was more than one word. -sigh-**

**_Topless_ did come in pretty close though. I considered changing it, but then decided 'Intermission Topless' didn't sound quite right.**

**Most of you guys agreed that Sakura was pretty much over Sasuke, so that's what I'm going to go with. Except with a twist; maybe she just doesn't know it yet. :]**

**Lastly, this intermission is dedicated to Kaliu, for being my 100th reviewer. And to all the people who sent me their songs and opinions. :]**

* * *

**I am Memories Faded, my one joy in life was my Mt Dew until my dentist told me I have eight cavities and I do not own Naruto.**

Intermission; You

* * *

_My hands are broken_

_And time is going on and on it goes_

_Forever_

I grew up an only child. Two parents. One mom. One dad.

_[How long?]_

My Mom and Dad are perfect for each other. They both had different jobs, standard citizen work. Mom worked at a bakery for a while, then as a seamstress, which is how I got my outfit. (Obviously it wasn't something you could just buy from somewhere.) She became a stay at home mom after I graduated the ninja academy. Dad was a professional painter, (the kind that paint walls not the artist kind) and a building contractor. Neither of them were ever ninjas, though my father went to the academy and technically graduated.

_So I got high and_

_Lived all that life_

_That I have taken all for granted_

But even though they aren't ninjas doesn't mean that they don't know the basic stuff. Every now and then I catch Mom preforming a quick transformation jutsu on things around their house when she thinks no one is watching. Which is surprising, because she never had any formal training. But maybe it isn't all that surprising, I mean I had to get the brain from somewhere, and there are a lot of smart women on my mother's side.

_Promise me you'll try_

_To leave it all behind_

You could say I came from a normal family, if not sometimes subjected to my Mother's bias about Naruto. Nothing tragic, nothing like my teammates. My normal life gave me nothing to relate with them. Which just made it that much harder to try to reach out to them.

_'Cause I've elected hell_

My mom and Dad are bias though, which was the reason why I was so hard and judgmental on Naruto when we first became a team. It really wasn't until Sasuke told me that I made him sick that I decided to change my views a little bit and give him more of a chance.

_Lying to myself_

They did encourage me to become a ninja. It was only later when Lady Tsunade took me as her apprentice that they became a little worried for my safety. But by then it was to late to talk me out of it. I've been risking my life since before the Chunnin Exams. And it has been worth it. It changed my whole look on life.

_Why have I gone blind?_

_Live another life_

There are things in my room that I've kept around for no real reason. Sasuke's headband, a framed picture of team seven. A diary from when I was twelve. A friendship bracelet with fading colored beads that Ino and I made back when we were six. The headband that Ino gave me. Bird feathers I found on my first mission with Yamato, Naruto and Sai. Some seashells and sea-glass I gathered when it was alone on our first mission out of Konoha, when Sasuke and Naruto were still out training. They all lay in the same spot on top of my dresser, overlooking the only window in my room.

_You_

By now a thin layer of dust has covered them, and I feel a pang of guilt when I look at them. I think to myself; If these things were so important to me then I would look at them every day. Not set them out and wait for them to collect dust.

_You_

I had one of the bells for a while. Though for some reason it mysteriously went missing around the time Naruto and I had faced Kakashi again.

It seemed our old sensei wanted as close to the first test as he could get. I never mentioned it. It turned up again in it's old spot a few weeks later. I never confronted Kakashi on it. Nor he to I. But we both knew.

_You_

In a tiny box laying innocently with the rest of my keepsakes, I have one of the many senbon needles that Haku used to try to kill Sasuke. Which for the longest time I kept as a grotesque reminder of how close I came to losing him.

_You_

Maybe it's just because I'm that sick. That I feel the need to preserve even horrible memories.

_The only way out_

By the time I got home after battling with Sasori, I had another needle to go with it.

_Is letting your guard down and never die_

The difference between them is pretty clear. Haku's needle is a third shorter than Sasori's. It's also rusting and stained with Sasuke's dried blood. Sasori's needle was longer, more durable and much sharper. It's also clean, I had to wash my own blood off of it in order to wash off the poison it had been soaked in.

I still have to handle it carefully, even though I cleaned it a dozen times over, I can never be too careful. It would be just like Akasuna no Sasori to try to kill me from beyond his grave.

_Forgotten_

As I said before, I never got a real chance to relate to any of my teammates. At the time when we were together it had only been Sasuke who I wanted to be close to. Looking back on it, I really do wish I had acted differently. Maybe I should have been focusing on my training and not on my looks, before that Sound girl forced me to own up to who I really was; A teenage girl stuck in a fantasy.

As a ninja, I should have known better. Damnit, I_ should _have_ known better. _At that age, I was trained to take lives, but really, who was I kidding? I could never have really hurt someone back then. I wasn't ready, I was just a kid.

_[I know]_

It took until after Sasuke left, and the fight between him and Naruto at the Valley of the End, for me to see, to really see. That if I truly wanted Sasuke back, then I needed to grow up.

_Forgive me my love_

So, grow up I did.

___I stand here all alone_

But I'm not training for Sasuke, or for anyone else. Not anymore.

I'm doing it for _me_. Which really should have been what I was doing before. Looking back, I shouldn't have felt the need to change myself for anyone else. Which was why I went to Lady Tsunade. Because I was sick of being the weakest link. Tired of watching everyone always two steps ahead of me.

_And I can see_

And after everything Tsunade and Shizune, Kakashi, Iruka and Ino taught me, I turned into something to be proud of. A strong, brave kunoichi, worthy of wearing Konoha's headband with pride. And I'm not letting some spoiled brat make me think otherwise either.

_The bottom_

But there were, and there still are others, Chiyo, Yamato, Naruto... even Sasuke, who have shown me that I'm not done yet, I'm still learning. Still growing. I still have yet to surpass Tsunade, but someday I will.

_Promise me you'll try_

I'm not perfect, I make mistakes sometimes. But I know that it isn't healthy to blame myself over stupid things that it can't fix. But try as I may, it's become habit for me to simply blame myself over things that really are out of my control.

___To leave it all behind_

But even though I know this, I still tell myself; 'If only I had known him better, if only I had been a better person, if only I had been stronger and less of a liability, maybe Sasuke would have given me a chance. Maybe he wouldn't have left. Maybe, if I was only stronger, I could have already brought him back home with Naruto and myself.'

_'Cause I've elected hell_

But deep down I know, such foolish doubt isn't going to bring him back. So, I poured myself into my training. And it's still not enough.

_Lying to myself_

It's still not enough. And I know that. Suigetsu didn't make me believe that. I already knew.

_Why have I gone blind?_

But soon, I will make it enough. I know who I am, I know how strong I am. I know that with Naruto's help we can bring him back to us, if not physically then emotionally at least. So then we won't have totally lost him.

I'm not giving in without a fight. And I'm not letting Sasuke get away from us so easily. A good kunoichi never gives up.

___Live another life_

If only I could think that way when _he_ is around. But for some reason, I let him get to me. Since the beginning, I let Suigetsu get the better of me. Maybe because I am attracted to him. (There really is no point in trying to deny it by now.) I don't know exactly why, but with him it was and still is so easy to get at me. Break my self-esteem without any resolve. Like my emotions, my _humanity_ is just something he can screw with.

_You_

But even with all that said, I just can't help the feeling of liking him. Feeling attached to him, like he's my responsibility. I like him, and every time I try to beat it down it just comes back again. Like an itch that you can't get rid of. Heh, that's a perfect way to describe him; something annoying that you just can't get rid of, even if you want to.

_You_

But now, now I should hate him. Because he has proven what I have suspected all along; he's only toying with me.

_You_

That kiss meant _nothing_ to him.

_You_

It's not about attraction, it's about _domination._ He's just proven that to me.

_You_

But now, I won't hold back any longer. I'm not going to lose Sasuke and I'm not going to give in to him. If he wants to play, I'll play. If he wants to push, I'll push. I'm tired of letting him walk all over me.

Now, things have changed.

Because now it's no longer just a game.

_You_

* * *

**A/N; This is going from oldest to newest. And yes, I'm pretty sure I have everyone, but I may have moved names around so that I only got everyone once.**

**247wannabebeninja246**; Love the name XD Yeah, only Suigetsu would come up with something so stupid yet brilliant as a way to get out of his cell. Thanks for your reviews.

**imdynamite**; Thank you, I think you're the first to compliment on my writing style. X']

**SupaflyTNT**; Thank you :]

**Blue Demon**; I'm glad you liked the cliffhanger in chapter five, not many people actually like cliffhangers XD

**sakurablooms1**; Thank you, and may I just say how much I love the pairings for your stories? I think you covered all of my favorites! XD

**mangafreakch**; Thank you! Your review really helped inspire me early on!

**CHERRY INK**; Thanks for reviewing :)

**katt1995**; Thank you. I'm glad you like it! ^^

; Thanks, though I hadn't really been trying to put any sexual tension into it that early yet. Oh well, that will happen eventually anyway. ;-]

**mipah**; You're very welcome, I'm glad I have readers like you! :] Thanks for reading my other story as well. ^^

**Map Writers**; Your review = 3 x 10 .... XD

**Awiii**; Thank you. :] HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! (Sorry I'm too late :[ ) I'm glad you like the pairing, and I'm also sorry I kept you waiting. Thanks for the reviews!

**Kaus-y**; Lol, Thank you ;]

**xereox**; I'm glad you like it. Thanks for reviewing :]

**lunamirrior**; YES! Suigetsu IS the smex! XD Thank you! I'm glad you appreciate the way I write it :]

**addictivextragedy**; Thank you! ^^

**bakenek0**; Uhh.. yeah. If you didn't like the pairing you didn't need to tell me because there isn't anything I can do about that. Try keeping your opinions to yourself next time. Do like people say; 'If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all.' Sheesh, and you interrupted all my good messages to my other reviewers! DX

**lolothecccp**; I guess I should thank you after all. If not for your horribly written flame, I would not have gotten so many encouraging reviews from readers who support me that helped me pull together chapter five. But no, I will not. Please go fuck yourself and do not leave any more flames on my story.

**Miss-Berry**; I'm glad you think so. ;] He is adorable, thanks for the review!

**mystical spirits**; I'm glad you laughed at that nasty flame and the post I used to reply to it, such a simple action from somebody else such as laughing at it made me feel 100% better immediately after I read it. X] Also! Thanks for the other web site with the video. I'm glad I have such great people like yourself, helping me as I go on. 3

**goonielove**; Thanks, I certainly did show them didn't I? Lol (Yeah, I'm not that funny, sorry) And yes, I'll keep going on with my bad self as long as I have you and everyone else to help me along the way. ;]

**MissImpossible**; I'm glad that my story changed your mind about the pairing. SuiXSaku really hasn't been given that much of a chance, and I'm hoping to bring out other authors to share themselves and their own stories eventually. Thank you for reviewing. :]

**AnImEwIlLRuLe**; Thanks for your support, :] You have no idea how much you've helped me.

**Kurenai no Chinoumi**; I'm happy you like my story :] And don't worry! I'll put up a new chapter really soon. XD

**Shinra Tensei**; That's awesome that Suigetsu is your favorite character! :] He's my favorite too, or at least one of them. XD Thank you for the review!

**kitten652**; Thank you! You're such a great reviewer, I'm so glad you like my story! X'] You and a couple others helped me post up the chapter in time, so I owe you another thanks; THANKS!

; Thanks! And a (belated) happy birthday to you too. XD

Yeah, same birthday as Neji. Lucky me. -_-

XD I's just kiddin' I have the BEST birthday date EVER!!

Lol, and my little brother has the same birthday as Sakura.

**Manipulated Marionette**; Lol, thank you, I did have a happy birthday. And I'm glad you liked chapter five, it's going to get even better pretty soon! X]

**Purpleghostflower016**; Yeah, hehe, I loved writing the beginning too. Hopefully I'll be able to put more naughty SuiXSaku stuff up soon. ;]

**midnight-blood-blossom**; Glad you like it, will update soon!!

**Nosferatus523**; Thanks!! XD Oh, heads up, there will be more sexual tension coming in later chapters! XD I hope you like it!

**neko luna-chan**; Yes!! Death to Flamers! XD Thanks for reviewing X3

**Blade Redwind**; I'M SORRY FOR THE CLIFFHANGER!!! I know it must be awful, but I will update soon! Thank you for your wonderful reviews!

**Moon Maiden23**; Thank you! ^^ Sorry I'm evil, I know. DX I'm really glad you like my story, stick around and see what comes next, kay? ;]

**daydreamingisfun**; I love your name! I myself love to daydream. XD Don't worry, next chapter will be out soon, so stick around until then!!

**Luverxxcry**; Lol, thank you! And thanks for reviewing! ^^

**partygirl654**; I'm really glad you like my story enough to tell me, thanks for reviewing! :]

**Kaliu**; My 100th reviewer! Congrats! Lol. You got a special dedication, 'cause I like ya, and you've been a great help. XD

No it isn't weird at all actually, thank you so much for telling me that, you have no idea how touched I was but something so candid. And your review made my _week_.

I know, the length of my chapters is something that really irks me as well, but it isn't something I can change just yet. Though I will try a bit harder in the future to do so, for you and for everyone else. Also, I have a pet peeve about grammatical errors, it drives me _nuts_. So if there are any that are really bothering you, PLEASE SEND ME A REVIEW OR PM SO I CAN FIX IT!!! DX Thank you!! Please leave me more reviews I love hearing from you.

**Itachi's Miley**; Oh, I do try, lol. It takes imagination for Sakura and Suigetsu to even be paired up together, doesn't it? Thanks for the favs AND reviewing. I hoped you liked the intermission.

**Pritchard**; I'm glad I changed your mind! :) Sakura isn't _too_ bad by Shippuden, Suigetsu is the shit though. And I find Suigetsu shockingly easy to keep in-character. As long as you remember that he's playful but bordering on being jerkish. XD Thanks for reviewing! X3

**llinga**; Did I spell your name right? I don't think I did.. anyway, thanks for the review!! ^^

**wateveruwannacallme**; Thank you! I will update soon! ;]

**AuTiXxXbEhBa**; Yeah, I'm sorry I had to cut you and everyone else off like that. :( But fear not! I shall update sometime soon! Thanks for the review, AND for the pm. ;]

* * *

**A/N; So, was that a long list or what?! XD And if I forgot anyone, I AM SO SORRY!! Just tell me and I'll be sure to write something to you in the next chapter.**

**Special Thanks go to everyone who gave me reviews with ideas and various songs for this intermission.**

* * *

**AmidnightWish**;I think I used the bells idea, it was great! So was the blanket, I must say very creative, though I didn't use that one. I love how you guessed that her training time would change, you were almost right on! X3 Thank you for your song and your ideas, especially the one about the weapon shop owners. Though I didn't use it in this story, I'm using it in my other one, and I made her uncle the owner. But I think that he will play an important role in later chapters so,thank you!

**Skylark-90**;

I liked the T-shirt idea, but maybe not from Sasuke. I read from somewhere that Karin pulled a similar stunt, so that kinda turned me off, lol. Iruka was a good idea, but he's more like someone Naruto would look up to.

'Seductive'.. Damn, you're completely right! It _does_ sound like SuiXSaku doesn't it? XD

I'm really glad you like my story, and sorry about the cliffhanger! Next chapter won't have one! Promise! XD And Topless is one of my favorites, but I must thank you for mentioning those other Breaking Benjamin songs because I hadn't heard them before. ^^

**VanillaPython11**; No, no! The friendship bracelets idea was great! Lol, which was why I used it. XD

Oh, and I'm glad you liked Phase in the first intermission, as you mentioned before. :] Breaking Benjamin kicks ass!! Thank you for all of your reviews!!! ^^

**Black-Blue Moonlight Neko**; In response to one of your earlier reviews, I can honestly say I have never met anyone who told his/her principle that they were going to bite him/her. You have my admiration. XD Thanks for your reviews. :]

Also, though fourteen hours would certainly be a good way to get good results, I highly doubt that it'd be possible for her to spend that much time either at work, or training or both when she has a missing-nin at her house. XD But thanks for the ideas anyway.

**AkatsukiGrl101**; I love 'Firefly'! Lol, thank you for your review! Your ideas were great!! X3

; Thanks!! You're really great with encouragement, I can't thank you enough!

**general zargon**; The headband!! Damnit why didn't I think of that?! When I re-read your review (Obviously I missed it the first time I read it... stupid!) I actually _hit_ myself for forgetting.

Then I had to go back and add that into the intermission. And I liked your hours the most because they seemed like the most likely. So I used them. X3

**SpacePirateGirl**; oh, and I don't know if I've thanked you already, but thanks for telling me about the site where the episode of Suigetsu's first appearance was. X] And your idea were great!! Thanks for all of your help and your reviews, and please keep them up!!

**KinkyK and JazzyJ**; Thank you for reporting them as abuse, that was very considerate of you. :] You've been a great help Score on mentioning 'Water' in the reviews! The original title was going to be 'Water', after the song by Breaking Benjamin, but I changed it on the grounds that One; someone already used that and Two; on just how uncreative it was. XP

**LavenderSkies**; The towel idea was great, I'm kinda sad I didn't use it. :-/ Thank you so much for your help and for reviewing! ^^

**Fictitious Ramen**; I know _exactly_ what you mean, and I'm sorry that I'm kind of that type of author. -_-

Oh, and I AM going to use your diary idea sometime soon. That was genius! ;] Thanks for reviewing!

**SyntheticPerfection**; Yes, I agree on the fact that her mother is probably a feisty woman, and the seamstress idea was just brilliant! Lol, thank you!

**MemoniANDkyo**; Yes! Breaking Benjamin fucking rocks! Lol, your ideas were great, btw. Thanks for all of your reviews!! XD

**yourmainsqueeze; **Holy crap!! I read your review after I wrote the whole 'She's over him but just doesn't know it yet' thing and I nearly fell out of _my_ chair at how, almost word for word, you mentioned the same thing! And it totally makes sense! At least to me it does. Thank you for the review!! X]

Oh, and damnit you need to update on your story too! You're killing me here! XD

* * *

**Extra Special Thanks go to;**

**Junior-Einstein**;You and ZerOtodona were my first two reviewers, and I have to thank you for your continued support. If not for you two I might not have made it to where I am now. Thank you so much.

**ZerOtodona**;Same as above, thank you. I'm sorry I keep having to make you wait. XD I hope you like the next chapter!

**Chibi-Ra-Chan**; Wow, there are just so many things I want to say to you but I can't put into words. Your reviews have meant so much to me, so all I can say is this; Thank you, for your support and encouragement. Thank you, for being there since the beginning. Thank you, for just writing that beautiful one-shot and giving ME hope too for the SuiXSaku pairing. Thank you, for everything you've given me. :]

I can only hope that you'll be there helping me and this story until the end. I'm a horrible sap, I know it.

**Shikamarurules1**; I will continue it, thanks for your wonderful support. :) Yeah, I'm awful with those cliffhangers aren't I? Lol.

**Harlett**; No, you did not offend me on the Karin/Suigetsu thing. I love hearing people's opinions, even if they are against my own. Thank you for your continued support. I could not have done this with out you and the rest of my reviewers. I really owe you a lot. :]

And an Australian accent isn't _too,_ too different from a British accent, but I'm American so I really shouldn't say anything. T_T

**overlordofnobodies**; Thanks, and yeah, I try to make my intermissions the parts were I give a deeper in-depth meaning to the character(s). And I'm putting into consideration whether or not I should kill off Karin in this story. That would be mean wouldn't it? XD

Oh, and there's not a snowball's chance in _hell_ that I'm going to give in just like that over a silly flame! Not when I have such great people such as yourself, backing me up as I go! Lol, and thanks for the blood idea in the lemon. You're _defiantly_ right on about the teeth thing, heheh, I'm going to be sure to use that when the real lemon comes along. ;]

* * *

**A/N; Christ that took me a while.... Not that it wasn't worth it, you guys got all the thanks that you rightfully deserve. :]**

**It's hard to believe, that the last time I wrote an intermission I only had two reviewers, crazy how things change isn't it? At least that means I'm doing something right.**

**I found it hard to believe that I was finished when I actually was, it was so long! XD**

**And I bet a bunch of you are screaming at your computers going 'Nooo!' right now because this isn't a chapter, (I know I would) Though hopefully you're not. **

**I'm going to try super hard to have it end by the end of next week. And there will be plotty stuff, (I'm just saying.)**

**Please check out my other story, Can't Back Down, it will be posted sometime today, but only if you guys want to. It could use the same love as this story, so could The Keeper.**

**Until next time!**

**~Memories Faded**

* * *


	10. VI

**A/N; You reviewers are awesome, you know that? This is the longest chapter in _Discrepancy_ so far, and I hope it makes up for the Intermission after that terrible cliffhanger in chapter five. I've also added a poll to my page that people should check out. ^^ Read and enjoy. **

**I am Memories Faded, my ten-year-old brother is better at math than I am and I do not own Naruto.**

Chapter Six

* * *

_**Covet**_

_-verb_

_[**kuhv**-it]_

_1. to have an inordinate or wrongfully desire._

_2. to wish for eagerly._

* * *

It had only been a day since 'it' had happened. And Sakura was flat-out refusing to talk to Suigetsu. Period.

The kiss, which he had to admit was surprising even on his part, seemed to have ruptured any equilibrium the two of them might have had as house-mates. Now it was replaced by Sakura's angry cold shoulder and Suigetsu's equally stubborn ignorance to that cold shoulder.

They managed surprisingly well without any verbal means of communicating. Sakura's apartment had a continual routine by then; they'd both wake up in separate rooms at different times, Sakura would make breakfast and head to work just when Kakashi came to her house. (By now he had his own key, much to Sakura's disdain.) Usually by that time Suigetsu would just be waking up, and starting a series of stretches and push ups beside the twin sized futon.

He then would settle himself into his mundane daily cycle of sitting around, reading whatever Sakura had laying around, training as much as he could while indoors, bantering with Kakashi and more or less, doing nothing. While Sakura would spend seven to eight hours at the Konoha hospital doing different jobs. Which varied from saving the lives of wounded Konoha shinobi, to healing a couple of kids who got a little too rough with the training equipment at the academy.

But even with as workable and as relatively balanced they were while not speaking to each other, nonetheless, this could not go on forever.

Time was a rather large obstacle if he still wanted to antagonize her when she was refusing to talk to him. With Sakura busy at work, where she was able to force her mind on things other than him. (Most of the time at least) She was given a pretty decent advantage over Suigetsu, who was still very much a prisoner of Konoha, and was forced to remain inside. Leaving him bored and alone at the apartment every day.

Boredom was the reason why Suigetsu had been so openly difficult when it came to Sakura going back to the hospital and spending more time at outings with friends and training. He didn't like being bored. So far, upsetting Sakura, getting her all worked up and manipulating her until she acted out of character was the greatest fun he had now that he was no longer permitted to train with his swords. He had yet to anger or even irritate Kakashi. Who was as cool as a damned penguin's ass when it came to watching over his '_special ANBU mission_'. The bastard hardly even looked to him, much less took the bait that he so easily used to piss off the little pink nurse who lived in the same house as him, and, whom was still mostly in charge of him.

Speaking of her,

Suigetsu scowled inwardly, as he finally began to dwell on just how stubborn she could be when she wanted.

What he really wanted to do was kiss her again to further jab at her anger. But his impulsive decision had already caused enough damage. And Suigetsu wasn't ready to take a step back and allow her to maintain her self-preservation once more.

He'd have to make a real move when she came home later that day.

Which meant that he still had a good few hours to come up with some kind of a plan.

* * *

The man was slightly taller than her, his clothes were nothing more than dirty rags long enough to make him look like he was wearing a dress, against a rather boney frame. His lips were in a frown and his hair was silver with a shiny bald spot in the center. While his beard was long and salt and peppered in color. In every since of the word, he looked like a bum.

Sakura really did hate people who hung around the hospital and did nothing. They were one of her biggest pet-peeves. But Sakura was humane, so she gave the old man the benefit of the doubt anyway. The least she could do was check to make sure the man wasn't in need of medical attention instead of just skipping her way home without a care in the world. The only thing she had scheduled for this evening was having dinner, taking a bath and going to sleep. Whilst pretending that Suigetsu was not even there the whole time of course.

It was only because he had spoken to her that she even really noticed him anyway. Though, she hadn't heard what he had said. He was the one who had still made the initial move and talked to her first.

"Excuse me sir, do you need any help?"

The man looked at her and said nothing. His lips were still pulled in a tight frown and the rags he wore still made him look like he was wearing a dirty dress. But the way his eyes blinked stupidly at her made her feel like he hadn't even understood what she had said to him.

She eyed the man curiously.

"What's your name?"

"In proper society, it is polite to introduce yourself first before asking for another's name." He replied gruffly. Sakura's distaste for the loiterer grew.

"They call me Kin. You may address me by that name, Haruno-san."

_What was __with__ this guy? _Sakura was annoyed by his rudeness, and inwardly felt a twinge of suspicion at the fact that he knew her name before she had introduced herself.

"How do you know my name?"

He snorted, and she felt an even stronger pang of annoyance from him. "There are not very many pink-haired women in this village, Haruno-san. And everyone here knows about you, being Tsunade's famed little apprentice."

Sakura did not bother asking him if he need help by that point. It was obvious that he was unhurt. In fact, he was well enough to even accuse her of being rude and make her feel like an imbecile.

Obviously this man was just a loiterer, and next time Sakura would be sure to tell the head desk if she ever saw him around here again.

She felt Kin's eyes on her as she walked away from the main entrance. "You should be careful." She heard him call after her.

This time, she pretended not to hear.

* * *

Right from the moment she was home, Suigetsu was downright pleasant toward her. And Sakura wasn't sure if it annoyed her more than it confused her. She did not like the sudden major change in character from him. And she doesn't bother to hide her distrust towards it at all.

But he ignored her obvious suspicion, talked good-naturedly about the absolute nothing he had done that day, and even offered to help her with the dishes after they were done eating.

The warning bells her head were driving her crazy, so she just came out and demanded it.

"Alright, what do you want?"

He blinked, a little startled by her outburst, which was the first thing that she had said to him in over a week, but all the same he managed to perfectly uphold his front.

"I don't want anything."

She glared at him with cold and questioning eyes. So he decided to give her what she was looking for.

"Maybe we could go for a walk later on." He said slowly, evenly, and Sakura's doubt began to loosen just a little.

She agreed stiffly. Not wanting to please him but wanting him to continue this ridiculous behavior even less. Relenting to his request could be seen as a surrender, so Sakura made it clear to him that she would be the one deciding where they would go, for how long and when.

He complied in as just a genial manner as before.

Later that night as they walked around the alleys of Konoha that bordered the river, (She had purposely picked this in hopes that he would seem less satisfied after they got back.) Sakura continued to think back on what was going on. The air had turned painfully humid, and it became clear that it would rain soon. She hated the fact that his mannerisms toward her had turn around so suddenly and that the looks he was giving her were so very convincing. She couldn't remember him _ever_ trying something nice for her. Every instinct inside of her was screaming _trap_.

She stopped walking, and irritably he stopped with her. The sudden humidity was doing absolutely nothing good for her temper, and really, she couldn't even remember what her reason was for allowing herself to give in to his proposal to take a walk. Shouldn't walks outside be rewards for _good _behavior? His mood tonight had only made her angry.

He watched her as she watched him, for a moment it looked like he would try to touch her. He took one step closer.

_'He's too close.'_ Her inner whispered. Sakura's anger had all but faded as she began to blush, and now she wished that she had not even bothered to stop because _now_ she had given him and opportunity to...

He took a step closer, his eyes falling on her lips.

_'Too close, too close, tooclose!'_

Visions of the dream she had nights before came back to her, and she felt her blush steadily worsen. She tried replacing the embarrassment with more anger.

"Will you just _back off!"_ She snapped angrily, hoping that her hostility would give her a bit of breathing room from his forwardness. It worked, as he took a step back.

"What?! I'm not even doing anything!"

"Yes you are!" She accused.

"I didn't mean to piss you off okay?!" He snapped back at her. And Sakura couldn't tell if he meant before or now.

"You're lying." She hissed. "Don't bother trying to hide it."

The fight had been long waited for, just hidden under time and the day's false pleasantry. It was at that moment, that the heavens opened up and big, fat raindrops fell from the sky. Turning the village of Konoha into a humid but dry village to a cold wet village in a matter of seconds.

Both were suddenly silenced, the rain seemed to act as a damper to their hostilities. Suigetsu moved close enough to her that their bodies nearly touched.

Why weren't they fighting? Why wasn't she pushing him away again? Sakura did not even have a second to think on this, because Suigetsu shoved her into the brick wall beside them, and for a terrifying moment, she was afraid that he might actually try to hurt her. But instead two hands pinned her own to the wall and Suigetsu kissed her.

Sakura was still.

Maybe it was the rain.

Maybe it was because she had already come to terms with the fact that she liked him.

Maybe it was because even as ill-meaningful as the last one had been, she had still actually enjoyed his first kiss.

Sakura kissed back.

She felt his hands run down the length of her thighs and then hoist her up against the wall behind her. They were both completely drenched from the downpour.

The kiss was hard and hot and _angry_. Lips coaxed open and tongue and teeth and fingers digging through hair and hands raking in clothes. He wanted her to submit, give in, melt into it. But she would not.

She felt sharp teeth cut against her tongue as the kiss deepened and became hotter. She dug her nails hard into his skin

and every single bit of it was so utterly _worth_ it.

Then a loud crash suddenly echoed from around the corner of the alley they were currently in. They both parted suddenly, red faced and panting, at the sound.

Cold washed over Sakura's body and had nothing to do with rain.

Sakura inwardly felt herself panic, she could get caught here! Not like _this_! Out in public, held against a wall with her lips red and breathless by her so-called _cousin_. But she was unable to will her frozen body into movement.

And then Suigetsu was grabbing her hand and running. Half-pulling half-dragging her along. Eventually, when she realized that he was actually trying to _save_ her, she stopped stumbling and managed to keep up running behind him.

"Where are we going!" She yelled above the rain, breathless from their running and from their previous actions.

"I don't know!" He shouted back. "Does it matter?!"

Sakura couldn't help but begin to laugh, fueled even harder when Suigetsu gave her a strange look from the corner of his eye. Still running.

"I knew you were losing it!"

She still laughed, unable to retort anything at the moment, indeed feeling a little crazy herself.

They ran and ran, down another alley and through another, feet slapping and splashing into puddles and clothes sagging from the rain and their movements.

When they stopped they were both a little dazed from the thrilling exhilaration, possible due to the fact that they could have been caught, sides splitting and gasping for air. The had run hard and far and even though both were ninjas, they still had a hard time catching their breaths because they had already been panting when they began running.

Their gazes met and Sakura smiled at him just a little. He returned it, though his was wider and mischievous.

Suigetsu looked around and started to laugh, and Sakura looked at him with the same dumb-founded look that he had given her moments before.

"What?" She asked, almost afraid of the answer. Half the time when he was laughing he was doing something bad. Or rather, almost nearly _all_ of the time.

He pointed behind them, and Sakura turned only to realize that the had run back to the apartment and not even known it.

Ironic.

She smiled, too worn-out to laugh again at the irony at it. They had run for so long so quickly that neither had known where they were going, and when they finally stopped they were home again.

Fishing through her pockets Sakura dug out her key and they both stumbled inside. Leaving a dripping trail of rain-water behind them.

...

Soaked literally to the skin, Sakura couldn't help but feel increasing self-conscious at the fact that she had left wearing rather thin clothing, and now her whole outfit was clinging to her body like a sopping wet, second skin.

Suigetsu was eyeing her intensely. She stepped away from it until her back hit the wall.

She wanted to cover herself, go to the bathroom and change so she could rid herself of the uncomfortable feeling of being in wet clothes. But he beat her to it.

Cautiously, as if fearing a negative reaction that could lead to a beating, he reached out and simply pulled the zipper of her shirt part-way down.

She waited, surprised that he was being uncharacteristically careful and slow, giving him time to watch her reactions before going on. Then, when he saw that she wasn't resisting, he slowly continued.

He opened her shirt, but made no move to completely remove it. Then he leaned in, his warm breath fanned her face and she didn't bother to hide the shudder of delight that the comfortable feeling gave her.

Suigetsu leaned in and kissed her softly on the temple, pushing damp hair away from her face as he did so.

It was only a light brush of lips, not like the harsh, angry passionate kiss like from before. Somehow, she actually found this was almost as good as she was pressed further against the wall. One of Suigetsu's hands were pressed next to her hip, effectively blocking her in with his own saturated body. His lips trailed down her cheek, and though she did not protest, she gave no real encouragement either. Other than leaning her head back to give him more access to her neck, closing her eyes. Her lips parted just slightly as he felt his mouth press firmer to her wet skin.

This was nothing like before, though he was kissing her, and he made kissing her a show of dominance up until then, he kissed Sakura like she actually _mattered_.

What had sparked this? Where was the change coming from??

He slid his tongue against her flesh, leaving a hot trail in its wake, at the same time he slipped his free fingers under her damp shirt just barely.

She panted slightly and finally wrapped her arms around him. Her hands went to grab his shirt from behind, just above him hips, twisting handfuls of wet cloth in her fists. She brought her head back to him so that they could make eye-contact.

It was like a dam broke, and suddenly everything spilled out.

Their lips met again, and this time there was no coaxing, tongues battled for dominance and lips clashed together like water against rocks.

They shouldn't be doing this. They _shouldn't_ be doing this. Just taking one step back to look at the absurdity of it all and maybe they would change their minds. They wouldn't be doing this. They did it anyway.

But the idea of Suigetsu kissing her again lost it's appeal the moment he closed in on her and pressed his body into her completely. As she realized how stupid and irrational she was acting – like a love-struck horny teenager. By letting him do this she'd be letting him take control over her again.

She scowled and tried pushing him away, he didn't budge, so she tried bitting down on his tongue. Bad idea. Her eyes grew wide and her whole body stiffened when she felt his teeth sink into her lip, she began attempting to bite back and failed horribly. Inner Sakura was reminding her how much bacteria there was in a human mouth. She dug her fingers hard into his back and he rewarded her - to her distress, with a pleased groan.

It wasn't about attraction, it was about domination. It had _always_ been about domination. There was no way she was just going to let him gain the upper hand on her, not when she'd promised herself not to.

His teeth bit harder, and pulled suddenly without warning. Sakura jerked in pain, wide-eyed, unable to pull away because he was practically attached to her.

For a moment she panicked, unable to push him off of her. Unsure of what exactly she should do to _get_ him off as she felt warm blood trickle down her chin.

So she grabbed on a handful his hair hastily and pulled as hard as she could without using chakra. Almost at once he let go and she shoved him away, a hand coming up to hide her bleeding lip.

"Ow! what the _hell_!" He snarled, face grimacing in pain. Then he caught sight of what he had done to her, and immediately his irritated look vanished and was replaced with one resembling alarm and slight fear.

"Oh, shit.."

Sakura could actually feel her lip practically hanging open as blood fell heavily from out of it, and she had to resist the urge to suck on the bleeding wound. She gingerly brought her fingers to it and began healing as she glared at him.

"Thanks a lot, you jackass." Her voice was pain-laced and a little muffled.

The expression he wore actually resembled regret. Or something close to that.

It took only a few minutes to heal herself, by then they were no longer pressed against the wall, just standing in the hallway a bit awkwardly. Puddles of water formed around them.

He leaned forward and she stiffened to defend herself, but this time, instead of kissing her, his tongue darted out and brushed over the lip he had bitten. Softly, almost apologetically. Startled, she only stared at him. He pulled back, looked at her, smirked, leaned in again and actually _licked_ the blood off of her lip.

For the moment, she was too stunned to move. And then, Sakura realized, that she didn't really care. Even though about two minutes ago she had been ready to rip his arms off, she allowed him to lick her, clean the blood off of her lip and chin. She closed her eyes in contempt for about four seconds until she felt his tongue move over to her neck. Immediately, she sobered.

_'Oh, _**Hell**_ no!'_

Shoving him away as far as she could, she had time enough to hear him make a sharp '_ompf_' sound as he landed into something before she had stormed into her room and loudly slammed her door. Where she stayed, for the rest of the night.

* * *

**A/N; Sorry this is late, school is coming up and I've been busy as shit lately.**

**I'd like to thank a couple more people, Lea and mysticblue05 for being amazing. Lea, your english is fine, :) I really admire everyone who's first language is not english who've managed to review. ^^**

**And to mysticblue05, Yeah, the 'Fuck you very much' thing came from a movie. One of those crappy suspense/thrillers that no one cares about. XD I hope you do write a SuixSaku because this pairing still could use a few more good stories out there. Good luck!**

**Part of me dislikes the anime Suigetsu, because he seems ridiculously skinny compared to the manga Suigetsu. -_- Anime Suigetsu also has purple eyes.. which sorta ruined a scene from an earlier chapter. -Sigh-**

**ALSO! I'm trying to finish this story before February 18, a.k.a Shark boy's birthday, (Still a ways away.) because I'm planning on releasing a sequel. YES! A sequel, for _Discrepancy_ on that day. People should also check out the poll on my page if they are playing on reading said sequel. The poll decision may be important later.**

**And here's a short word from Chapter VII.**

**Chapter VII; Hello, I am chapter seven, I am currently under construction by Memories Faded in a cold and cramped closet. I contain more Suigetsu/Sakura tension and some small amount of long waited for fluff. But most importantly, I will have bondage. So make sure that you review and check out the poll on her page and Memories Faded will be sure to update faster and let me out of the dark, awful closet I am currently in and not end me D:**

**P.S, Well, you heard the chapter. Very low, yes, yes I know that. But you'll thank me later.**

**The letting-the-chapter-speak thing I got from Le KING, who is a goddamn genius. Enough said. XD**

**Until next time! And make sure none of you go near the coast in Maine during a friggin hurricane. We've already had seven people swept out into the ocean and we don't need any more bad attention.**

**~ Memories Faded**


	11. VII

**A/N; This chapter is dedicated to Stained Glass Smile, who made my week with that review. X'3**

**She is also the first to bring up the mention of Kin, who is important to the story in later chapters.**

* * *

**I am Memories Faded, I _do_ know all of the rules that go to the _Death Note_ and I do not own Naruto.**

Chapter Seven

* * *

_**Durance**_

_-noun_

_[**door**-uhns]_

_1. confinement or restraint_

_2. restraint by or as by physical force_

* * *

Suigetsu woke that morning to a rather uncomfortable feeling.

It was the feeling of being tied, or rather _handcuffed_ to the bed, half-naked with a pink-haired medic glaring apathetically down at him.

Not a feeling that one usually gets very often. Not a situation that one wakes up everyday either.

"Wha.. what's going on?" He grumbled sleepily, blinking away the drowsiness. This was a hell of a way to wake up today.

"Why am I tied up?" He blinked a few more times, making sure that he wasn't still asleep and having a very vivid dream. Sakura didn't respond to his questions.

"You keep trying to control me, and I've had enough. I'm not letting you have control anymore."

_The **fuck?**_

Why the Hell was she addressing this _now? This early in the fucking morning?!_

"What the hell is wrong with you?" He scowled, "Let me out of these." Tugged on the handcuffs. They cut painfully into his skin but did not budge.

Really, he was not in the mood for being tied up this early. Especially when this position was giving her such an advantage.

She must have suppressed her chakra, because he was sure that he would have felt it when she came into the room. He inwardly cursed himself for being so careless.

She didn't answer, instead she reached behind her for something resting on the side of the bed.

Was that..? Yes it was. It was a blindfold. Suigetsu forced himself not to show any reaction to it.

"Well, well. The little medic is finally starting to get some backbone." He commented snidely. So what are you planing? Do you really think that you'll gain control over me because you tied me-"

"Shut _up_." The expression on her face was nothing less than feral. Twisted and cold and _angry_. So angry that even he hadn't expected it and was slightly taken back.

_**Woah,**_

Where had this Sakura come from?

He frowned. If this was her idea of a joke then she was failing epically.

"Why are you here anyway? Aren't you supposed to be at work?"

She sneered darkly, and Suigetsu decided that he did not like the way she was looking at him like that at all. Like he was below her. (Even though he technically was in this position.)

"Kakashi is on an important mission. Tsunade already summoned me and told me she allowing a vacation day before someone else came to watch you."

He frowned irritably. He was at the point where he was getting used to Kakashi, even though he didn't actually want him there. He didn't want another -

SLAP

The force behind her hand startled every thought out of his head, and he was too stunned to react to the strike. For a moment he was silent in shock, finding it difficult to believe that the woman on top of him had hit him out of nowhere and were it not for the stinging in his cheek he might not have actually believed it. Sakura used his momentary stillness to her advantage and forcefully blindfolded him before he could wriggle out of her grasp.

"Gah!" He flinched as she moved to tighten the handcuffs uncomfortably on his wrists. Leaving him open and unable to move if she decided to attack. Deep inside he was starting to panic a little.

The second slap she delivered successfully stopped his struggles.

"What was that for?!" It was shock hidden under a childish whine. Sakura probably heard it.

"For biting me."

"It wasn't that bad!" He protested. "And you did seem so mad afterward now did you?!"

She was probably glaring daggers at him now.

"And for making my life Hell."

Okay, maybe he _did_ have a _little bit _of a role in that.

Suigetsu gritted his teeth in frustration. He was used to the ability to liquefy himself and simply slip out of whatever trap his enemy had for him. This advantage always meant that he was in control of the situation. He could chose to attack, or to run away, and his opponent could do nothing because _he_ was the one with the ability to effortlessly do those things. So far, he had never gone against an enemy who could overpower his ability, no matter how many jutsu they may have known.

But the chakra controller binds on his ankle prevented him from doing just that, rendering him helpless. The feeling was alien and uncomfortable and he _did not like it._

He had never before been so restricted, save for in the cell, but that was _different_. When he was in the cell he was going against a whole village. Something no normal human could do, so he could not fault himself when he was so outnumbered. But Sakura was a single person. And he had no excuse for himself if he lost against her. Though he may have had enough self-love to forgive himself for the loss later, (As long as he got even against her of course.) he was not in control of the situation as he was used to, and he _hated_ it. It stung his pride like acid.

He was a shinobi, and he was still much smarter than he looked with his carefree, smiles-and-giggles-while-I-decapitate-you attitude. He needed to think of a way to get on her good side or he would need to wait until she asked him something, before he could regain the control he had already lost, simply by refusing to answer.

He clenched his teeth. "May I at least ask why this is happening?" The question was slow, careful. _Don't set her off_, he thought coolly. Demanding an answer would only make her angry and she would retaliate to which, he could do nothing back.

"It doesn't feel too good when you've lost your control does it Suigetsu?" He refused to react to the fact that she had actually called him by his name. The smile on her face was both satisfied and hateful at the same time, he didn't need to see it to know that it was there.

_It's not like you were doing anything before._ He could feel the words on his tongue, but managed to hold them back. At this point he needed to find a way to get on her good side. To gain her affection. Rationalize, calculate, _calculate_, what should he do from here?

That was when he felt it.

Through his clothes he could feel her warm center rub against him, and he groaned in one part agony and two parts bliss as the dampening heat between her legs that was sending shockwaves of agonized bliss up and down his legs. Making his toes curl in pleasure.

She suddenly caught on to what he was feeling, and seemed discouraged by the fact that he was obviously enjoying this enough to become aroused. So she tightened her grip into something rather painful. He hissed.

"Stop that." She growled.

"If you don't want me to like that maybe you should put more clothes on." He groaned in response.

"I can do whatever I want."

"I noticed." His voice was becoming strained.

He did not bother to try to hide the fact that he was become aroused. Because while Sakura may have had control on the situation, she could not control his body's reactions. That was something he still had.

But as the seconds passed, it was slowly progressing into a very painful problem.

She seemed to sense the fact that he was growing uncomfortable. Her fingers crept down and slipped underneath his shirt. Cool hands on hot skin sent shivers of enjoyment up his body, he felt the muscles in his stomach tighten as she lightly caressed his torso. Suddenly his traitorous body was turning on him, and he found himself arching into her touch.

"Damn it." He rasped. While he did not hide the need growing inside him, he still was becoming frustrated by the fact that Sakura was now using this, also, to her advantage.

She began to move against him, and Suigetsu just barely caught the strangled moan before it ripped its way from out of his throat.

Suddenly he didn't _care_ if he was tied up anymore. He couldn't recall exactly when the last time he found release was, but obviously it was too long ago. For his body to be behaving this desperately, this quickly.

God, this was humiliating now.

He tried to find a new approach.

"Now, now. Do friends tie each other up and rub up against each other while the other is helpless and unable to move?" Trying to be teasing her, failing, because all he could concentrate on was the throbbing feeling between his legs.

The jab was clearly a mistake. She snarled. "So we're _friends_ now?"

He stopped for a moment to think on it. _Were_ they friends? He knew that he no longer considered Sakura an enemy. She had already proved that she wasn't going to break under his control so he was beginning to think of her less and less as prey but..

_Friends?_

"I could consider you my friend."

"You're lying." She frowned. Her voice wasn't completely backing her conviction. Maybe she could read the genuine and rare honesty in his expression. Even while blindfolded.

"No, I'm not."

She gave a cold, bitter laugh. "Right, and next are you going to say _sorry_ from making my life hell? Anything that comes out of your mouth is a lie."

He wasn't prepared for the hurt and anger that came from that little comment. He could feel the resentment show on his face. He heard her laugh mockingly in response.

"Did I make you mad? Here, I know what will help."

She took off the blindfold, forcing his eyes to water in the sudden light. A hand crept down and wrapped around aching flesh. He did not try to hold back, bucking and groaning and trying to get _more_.

She stroked and squeezed, foundling him until he had to force himself to suppress the vocalizations that his body seemed to want to make.

She released him and rocked her hips back into a steady rhythm. Though both of them were still clothed, only a thin layer of cloth was between them. Enough so that Suigetsu could feel her _there_, but it still just wasn't _enough_. The sensation was doing him in. Way too fast.

It was too much, the peak of pleasurable torment grabbed a hold of him and brought him to a sudden, shuddering climax.

His eyes closed and groaned, as the waves of his release struck his body like a flash flood. Reeking havoc over his body and forcing him to lose control, if just for a moment.

It took minutes before he could open his eyes after the blissful aftermath of such a powerful orgasm. And see what else Sakura was up to.

He was confronted with the emptiness of his ceiling. No medic. To handcuffs.

What the hell?

He blinked, confused. Could she - did she put a jutsu on his and leave while he was still distracted..? No he would have sensed that. Then what - ?

He looked down to his free wrists and was met with smooth undamaged skin. No sign of having been in handcuffs.

It was just a dream?

Oh fuck.

Well, this was embarrassing. He hadn't had a wet dream since he first hit puberty, embarrassing was putting it lightly.

The fantasy had been so _real_ though. It took him a second to realize that he was now woken from a dream, and hadn't passed out from the intense orgasm that the new, dominatrix Sakura had given him.

Speaking of which.

He groaned when he moved to get up. Now matter how good it had felt minutes before, waking up sticky and wet was just gross, and humiliating.

He needed a shower, now, before Sakura saw him.

Though he might be able to pretend like he didn't care in front of her just to irritate her, so he could keep up the act that little things, even his own person problems didn't bother him. It _did_ bother him, and he didn't feel like pretending at the moment. Not while he felt embarrassed and ashamed and nasty.

Luckily, he didn't come across her on the short (But so painfully long) trip to the bathroom. He didn't bother striping. He went in, fully clothed into the cold running shower. The spray stung like tiny needles across his flesh, but he _was not_ changing the temperature until he cleaned his soiled clothes first. Which didn't take long. He was relieved to be able to strip himself of his wet, restraining clothes and submit to warm water when he changed the temperature.

He thought back to the night before.

He was just looking for the best way to get her to stop being pissy. His plan was to try to apologize as best as he could (He hadn't had time to come up with how exactly) sometime during the walk. Though he knew he'd have to get her to agree to go for a walk first. Thus why he bothered to act all nice to her. Then it came easier to do after he realized that it was making her uncomfortable.

As smart as Suigetsu was, Sakura was still difficult to read. Really, he found women in general difficult to read, unless he was fighting them.

While he hadn't intentionally planned to kiss Sakura - although it _had_ been a thought. He had to admit that it had actually been rather exhilarating. He had enjoyed doing it, for once. Every time before had been nothing more then one-sided. But this time he honestly hadn't been trying to win against her. And now, he didn't really know what to do.

He leaned his head against the tiles in the shower for a moment. Even though he had slept in, he was still tired. Probably worn out by the vivid... dream.

He hated calling it a dream.

It took him a while to summon enough energy to go back to his room and get dressed. He went out to the living room and was surprised to find Sakura on the couch, papers, probably bills spread out over the table in front of it. She looked rather worn out.

She raised her head, when she noticed his presence. Smiling slightly, yawning. "Good morning."

It was a week day. Normally she'd been at work for a few more hours. And where was Kakashi? "Morning"

"More like afternoon."

He scratched the back of his head. Coming up to stand next to her. Though the surprise was't really negative, he still needed to ask. "Shouldn't you be at work?"

"Kakashi is on an important mission. Tsunade already summoned me and told me she allowing a vacation day before someone else came to watch you." The voice she spoke in was soft, her attention was on her rent bills and not on tying him up to a bed as it had been when he heard it before.

Suigetsu felt something inside of him skip. Oh Gods, how was it _possible_ that two things could be so similar?! Wasn't that the _exact_ thing that she said in his dream?!

She stopped working in favor of watching him curiously, he usually wasn't this quiet in the mornings... or in general. "Suigetsu?" Her voice was laced slightly with concern.

"Are we friends?" He asked suddenly.

Sakura froze, and Suigetsu tensed. He hadn't even had time to think before the words were out of his mouth and he was not quite sure if she was going to end up reacting like the Sakura in his dream to that question.

She sighed, got up slightly to scoot on the other side of the couch, and patted the spot beside her. He moved to plop beside her on the couch. My, was she being nice today..

He was suddenly grateful. So very grateful that it had just been a dream. That Sakura was not exercising dominance over him, which before he had never even entertained the idea that she could, much less would.

He was underestimating her dearly. Had that dream been real and...

It was probably a good idea to stay on her good side from now on.

Before she had a chance to talk, which was probably why she wanted him to sit beside her. Suigetsu wrapped his arms quite comfortable around her. She stiffened and tried to move away. He silenced her by leaning forward, bringing the both of them down on the couch in a laying position.

Yes, he hadn't even thought that he considered Sakura as a friend. Though she probably was the closest thing he had now that his brother was gone. He had never considered Sasuke, Karin and Juugo his friends. Teammates yes, but not friends.

He could hear her heartbeat racing, he smiled contently. He still loved it when she reacted to him.

"Su-Suigetsu?"

"Shh." He hushed, really he had no reason not to enjoy this. Even if it was only a ploy to keep himself on her good side. "Enjoy the moment. It's not going to last and things will be complicated once we move up."

This was also true, she deflated slightly and he circled both arms around her, closing his eyes and humming in content. Mostly because he was feeling lazy and she happened to be a very comfortable, very warm pillow, but also because he was still basking in the gratitude that this was his Sakura, the one he was used to. He didn't want the one who could take control of him.

"I'm tired." She murmured.

"Mhm." He didn't even bother opening his eyes to reply. A few minutes later the both of them were half-asleep. And Sakura allowed herself to snuggle herself closer to him, burying her head in his chest. Suigetsu in turn lowered his head into her pink locks and breathed in. They smelled like sweat and dirt from when she trained and something sweet. It relaxed him.

It had been a long time since either of them had any close human contact. But neither would deny to themselves that they enjoyed the other's company for the short moment.

Even if it was just a moment.

* * *

**A/N; Couldn't tell that it was a dream this time, could you?**

**I'm so cruel. XD**

**So how's everyone doing? Anyone else started school?**

**Anyways, the poll will be up until the end of _Discrepancy._ Twins were not a choice because I LOATH people who do the boy/girl twins thing, it pisses me off to no end. A lot of times I will actually stop reading a story if they put that in there because it just makes me so angry with its over-used stereotypicalism. (That is not a word by the way.)**

**I'm sure this chapter will earn me a lot of disappointed reviews, but you will get your lemons, just wait.**

**It becomes more difficult to keep both Suigetsu and Sakura in-character the as closer they grow to each other. Hopefully, I won't screw everything up.**

**Also, I predict that there are about ten updates left in Discrepancy, so if I do the math that means I need to update at least twice a month in order to meet my deadline. That also means I'll probably have to postpone my other in-progress stories until then unfortunately. All well, I'm sure it'll be worth it in the end eh?**


	12. VIII

**A/N; Update, 12/29/09**

**Well, I hope people weren't too attached to the last two chapters because I decided to change them almost completely. AHA... AHAHA HA HA HA HA!! ...ha.**

**Anyways, on with the show!**

**I am Memories Faded, if Suigetsu was real I would skip trying to seduce him in favor of kidnapping and raping him so I could have his shark-toothed-baby and I do not own Naruto.**

Chapter Eight

* * *

_Nostalgia_

_-noun_

_[no-**stal**-juh]_

_1. a bittersweet longing for things, persons, or situations of the past._

_2. Fond memories_

* * *

Weeks passed since the kiss the two had shared and the moment they had spent together in each other's arms while dozing on Sakura's couch. Since then, the routine had began again. And the boring sameness had returned with a vengeance.

Indeed things were different between the two, more complicated, as Suigetsu had said would happen. Neither brought up the change of emotion between them, so things just went unrecognized. Like pretending the problem wasn't there, even though both of them knew that it wasn't going to just go away.

Not one meaningful word about what had happened between the two of them was spoken, nor was any meaningless word spoken either for that matter. They simply refused to talk about it, and as such, the old interactions the two would share had all but ceased. There was no more teasing between them, no more playful fights. In fact, neither of them had really spoken to each other over the past weeks. They just continued about their own business. All but ignoring the other's very existence.

But nothing important was happening in the shinobi world either it seemed. Sakura had nothing to put her energy into. Not even fighting with her mission assignment turned (Even now the word was painful to use.) _friend_, now that the two weren't really speaking to each other. She was becoming increasingly depressed by her ceaseless boredom.

More days passed. The tension steadily worsened. But it wasn't like the almost sexual tension that had been present before the fight and the kiss in the rain. If you could call it just a mere kiss. This was the kind of straining tension between to people to would inevitably lead to someone's head being ripped off.

Time passed. Slowly.

Even Kakashi had started to wonder about Suigetsu and Sakura's lack of acknowledgment towards each other. He never said it right out in words, he just looked at the both of them suspiciously as each ignored the other and did their own business. Sometimes even while they're both in the same room. He tried taking Sakura aside and asking her what exactly is wrong. But her only response is "It's complicated".

The most clichéd thing that a teenage girl with relationship problems could say. So Kakashi sighed and shrugged it off. Hoping that if his former student would come to him if she was in any real trouble. But Sakura is a stubborn girl. He knows it's likely that if something really _was_ wrong, she'd wait until the trouble was up to her ears, dealing with it herself, before she'd ask for someone else's help.

More times passes. Two weeks become three weeks. Three weeks become a month.

Sakura's time out increased dramatically. More and more often she found herself training after work so hard that she'd find purple and blue bruises all over her body when she showered at home.

Her friends began to doubt less and less that something was wrong when she turned up for many more outings than she had previously. All save Naruto were convinced.

But she also began to feel distant and apathetic towards everything around her. She didn't take in the beauties of the village or the thrill of the fight when she trained with her friends like she used to. The more she tried to escape her home the more troubled she felt.

And then she realized what it was that had her feeling so reminiscent.

She was lonely.

Though Naruto was still here, and Ino and Hinata and Lee and Tsunade and all her friends. None of them managed to get under her skin quite as much.

Suigetsu was also unavoidable, she saw him more than she saw anyone else. (Except perhaps her co-workers at the hospital but that was besides the point) As painful as it was to admit, she had actually enjoyed his company to an extent.

The tension at home made her restless, like a caged animal. So she pushed Tsunade for a quick mission. One that would take her out of the village. So she could clear her mind.

Tsunade of course had been enraged. So far they had learned nothing more from the prisoner since he had been released, the Council was starting to wonder if Tsunade's decision to let the prisoner out of his cell was a good one. And now Sakura wanted to ask for another mission, when she hadn't given any more precious information? Oh, she had been incredibly angry at her former student for the request.

Though Sakura was incredibly persistent when she wanted to be, Tsunade refused. Putting her foot down firmly on the argument and leaving no room for protest.

Sakura had turned a painfully dejected face towards the floor and turned to walk out. Feeling literally as if she had just been denied a much needed request from a closest friend. When finally the Hokage had relented. Maybe because of her prevalence or maybe because the older woman could sense how genuinely distressed her former student was. But she had made it very clear to Sakura that she was still very displeased by the young medic's first decision.

"I'm not letting you out of the village, Sakura. But I can make a compromise." She waited until she had regained the medic's full attention and hopeful eyes. "I can let him out. On one condition."

"Alright" She let herself smile a bit in relief. "What is it?"

That one condition had seemed so painless when Tsunade had talked to her. It was only now, as she studied the way Suigetsu flexed his free limbs, that she knew what exactly she had signed in for.

This wasn't a gift as much as it was a chore. Sparing with him without his chakra bracelet on didn't mean that she was getting a chance to be more close with him in a one-on-one setting. It meant that she was basically being reduced to a mere babysitter as ANBU and Kakashi watched him all but beat her into a pulp.

Okay, that was a bit too over-dramatic. But in her mind, that's what it felt like.

"I managed to convince Tsunade to let me go without the bind." He grinned.

Even better. Now he could liquefy himself, which made it literally impossible to get her hands on him.

_'Bullshit, Tsunade probably did it on her own so that the ANBU can study the way you fight one on one.' _She thought to herself.

"I'm not going easy on you." Sakura said stonily.

The medic watched his shark-like grin spread slowly across his face like he had some nasty awful idea forming in his head. It excited her, and it unnerved her.

"Alright." She said heavily, pulling down her chakra gloves over her hands. Readying herself into a standard battle position. Watching him carefully, her chest pounded with anticipation. Matching every tiny shift he made with her own in an opposite direction. Sakura saw his fingers twitch at his side. And he frowned. "I'm not used to fighting without my swords." He told her, once he noticed that he had an audience.

"I'm sure you'll manage." He grinned again at her snide tone of voice.

"What's wrong? You scared?"

"You wish."

The shark look was back, wider and toothier than ever. As if, while he watched he was considering whether or not she was big enough to swallow whole or if he should bite her in half first. Her eyes met his and for a moment she was sucked into those purple depths. Her heart pumped faster and her skin grew hot. She forced the feeling down. There was no time for this, especially not now. With her old teacher and half a score of ANBU watching them. If the council or Tsunade even _suspected _that she might be in an intimate relationship with him...

The thought was shattered abruptly, when a sudden flurry of advanced Taijutsu moves came right at her. She barely had enough time to dodge, let alone get a counterattack of her own in. nonetheless she stopped him from landing a single hit on her person. And when he pulled back his grin was different, more pleased.

The medic was about to start a set of her own attacks when a wave thundered toward her from out of nowhere. Crashing through her and drenching her completely. She jumped away from her enemy, into the trees when she could assess the damage and assemble herself for another attack. Instinct now, as this was one of the first things that Tsunade had taught her.

She cursed under her breath. If she was lucky the water might not have damaged any of the scrolls that she kept on her person. But with the way the water had soaked her now, that felt extremely unlikely.

She looked at him where he was still out on the field, and had to do a double-take at the new, mocking gleam he had in his eyes._ That's right. _He seemed to be grinning at her. _Watch me dominate you in front of your own village._ Was what his body language was telling her.

She growled, and prepared a new launch at him. He was baiting her, she knew that. But at the moment. She couldn't really care.

Two hours later Sakura staggered off the training field, dripping wet and soaked to the skin. Behind Suigetsu, who was all but bouncing away from the ruined area. Huge holes were randomly scattered in the ground, grass was ripped up and torn off of dirt. Trees were split in two and smoke was still drifting lazily from some places where letter bombs – all Sakura's – had missed their marks. Puddles of water turned some places into messy soup while other spots were perfectly dry. A random body of water was already being investigated by birds who paddled uncertainly into it. The whole mess looked like an army had crashed through and started some epic battle. And Sakura just glared balefully after her mission assignment who was walking perfectly while her muscles screamed in protest of the injustice. Her feet made sick squishing noises with every tired step she took.

"How does he do that?" She panted to Kakashi. He chuckled and pulled out a Icha Icha book from his back pocket. Settling in to read. "I don't know, but you better bring him back her before he gets out of sight without his binds on."

She heard her old teacher laugh as she stormed after him and yanked him back like a horse staying too far from the paddock. He seemed to think so too, as he whined and protested at her the entire time she was dragging him along.

* * *

Sakura took the long route back to her house. The long route, being of course every street in Konoha but the one she lived on. Suigetsu was behind her, pouting. Complaining about how tired he was and that she was only making him walk this much because she was a sore loser.

That was, unfortunately, not too far from the truth. But her being angry about getting soaked wasn't totally the case. If it was, she wouldn't be plodding around like a wet mutt. Followed by a whiny ex-Mist ninja, slash convict, slash prisoner of war, slash mission assignment, slash something else... Who enjoyed making her life complicated and confusing.

A little payback wasn't going to kill him. Besides, she didn't have to much to worry about now that his wire was back on.

Why are we walking so far.

Then, quieter, "ANBU is still watching us you know."

Like the group of shadowy figures flitting around them wasn't obvious. She _was_ a chuunin. Did he seriously take her for an imbecile?

Yes, I know that too.

When are we going home?

Woah, did he seriously just call her apartment 'home'? She turned to look at him, he must have been just as shocked at his slip. As he had a mortified expression on his face.

Sakura smiled a little, and pretended that she hadn't heard anything. Her shoes were slowly drying out, which was sort of a good sign.

They passed a large group of kids, and Sakura waved to Uruka when she saw him. Ignoring the various looks given to her and her companion as they passed by. They obviously could tell that he was not from Konoha, she noticed how his lip twitched. She could tell that he wanted to flash his sharp teeth to them. A simple intimidating gesture he was probably used to making. She took his arm gently and pulled him away from them. Strangely proud of him for his self-control.

"Forget them, they're bitches."

"I noticed." She smiled at his dismissing voice. They were the same people who spoke bad about Naruto from behind his back. The smile slipped from her face when she realized that her own parents would likely be among them.

They turned to the next alley and were met with a large crowd of people gathered in front of them. Inwardly Sakura rolled her eyes. (There must be some kind of sale going on at the food stands. Residents of Konoha who weren't ninjas found such lame ways to entertain themselves. Not surprisingly) It was loud and noisy and the people were packed. The street was long and narrow, and the two had to push their way to get through them. Of course, it would have been too easy to simply jump over them. But Suigetsu's chakra wire restricted him from using that. And she couldn't afford to take her eyes off of him even for a second. Though, that wasn't the only reason.

The two teenagers were mashed between unfamiliar bodies. Sakura shuddered at the awkwardly uncomfortable feeling. She took Suigetsu's hand in her own so the wouldn't get separated. It was warm, and when they made it out to the other side, she held onto his hand for a few seconds longer than she needed to before letting go.

He noticed her shutter in discomfort. "You know, you could have just jumped over that." He referred to the mob they just passed.

"I know, I thought it might hurt your feelings." She answered truthfully. She had thought that it may have felt like a stab below the belt to do something so simple that he was probably so used to doing but couldn't, right in front of him. Being honest with him wasn't going to hurt anything besides her pride.

He gave her a startled look, she saw from out of the corner of her eye. Too embarrassed to look at him.

He snorted. "It's not a big deal. I would have been fine." But she could see that he was touched.

They avoided the general area where they had passed and ended up at the monument stone. Sakura half-expected to see Kakashi. But the place was empty. Someone had left a pile of white carnations, still fresh, for one of then names on the grave. She wondered if it was for Obito.

Her gaze traveled upwards to the Hokage mountain. A wistful smile on her lips and in her eyes. She remembered three years ago when team seven had followed Kakashi around. Trying to get a glimpse of what was under the mask he always wore. This was one of the many places he had stopped at.

A warm breeze blew her pink hair into her face. She turned away from the direction of the wind and brushed her ruffled locks from her eyes, spitting stay hairs out of her mouth in a very unladylike fashion. When she opened them, Suigetsu was looking at her with an amazed look on his face.

She blinked at him. "What?"

He straightened, realizing he had been caught in the act. "Nothing." A hint of a blush was brushed across his cheeks.

She smiled a little to herself. "Alright, let's go home."

* * *

**A/N; Woo! Vacation!! The perfect chance to get caught up on my writing!!**

**Unfortunately I should be doing my homework...**

**All well! I have six more days so it can't hurt, right? ^^**


	13. IX

**A/N; Ok, so if you didn't see the notice on the other chapter, this has been almost completely redone. Because I hated where the story was going. Adding Sasuke into it just fucked everything up.**

**...**

**I am Memories Faded, my circulation is so good that I can take my pulse with one finger on the same hand and I do not own Naruto.**

Chapter Nine

* * *

_Diametrical_

_-adjective_

_[dayh-**uh**-me-**tri**-kuhl]_

_In direct opposite; contradictory_

* * *

Sakura woke, a morning not long after the day they spent together. To the unfamiliar feeling of something heavy on her chest. She rubbed her hand over her eyes to get they sleep out of them. And met a pair of violet orbs. Uncomfortably close to her own.

"Are you going to sleep in all day?"

The startled medic yelped and tried yanking her covers up to her chest. But they only made it a fraction of the distance due to the large weight over her body.

"What are you doing?!" She squeaked, a hot pink blush settled in her cheeks and she inwardly hit herself for the embarrassing change in her voice.

Suigetsu smirked at her. "Waiting for you to get up."

She shoved him off of her, where he landed with a loud 'thump!' on the floor beside her bed.

"Ow!" He whined.

"Get out!" She snarled, pointing to the door. Her cheeks were still flushed and she still clutched her sheets tightly to herself in a white-knuckled grip.

"Somebody's _grumpy~_." He said in a sing-song voice, grinning his wide shark-toothed grin at her. Only he knew just how to get on her nerves this early in the morning.... and maybe Naruto. She threw a pillow at him. Which hit him in the face as he laughed at her. He threw it back just in time to be left open enough to be hit by another pillow. Then Sakura was being tugged to the floor, tangled in her own blankets by Suigetsu. And before either of them realized it, they were caught in a massive pillow-fight. That turned into a wrestling match on the floor when both pillows managed to get tossed out of each other's grips. Which turned into a fight over who could pin the other down.

She finally pinned him, grinning victoriously down at him. "It's my win this time!" She crowed triumphantly. Both of them were panting heavily.

"Oh please. I could get out of this I wanted to." There was a slight tone of resentment in his voice.

"Then why don't you?"

"I don't feel like it."

"Ha! You're just being a sore loser." She replied haughtily. But as soon as the words left her mouth, she froze. When she saw the look in his eyes.

It was the same look that he had given her as before, at the monumental stone. She paused for a moment, unsure of what to make of it. So she was caught off guard when Suigetsu suddenly rolled them over so he was on top. Enraged at his tactics, she squirmed beneath him. Trying once more to get over him.

"See, I told you I could." He grinned down over her impishly. The look was still there though, hidden deep in his eyes.

She snarled and wiggled harder. But his grip was steely, she couldn't move her hands even an inch away.

"You make sex noises when you struggle like that." He purred in her ear.

"Let go!" She hissed nastily, but to her despair Suigetsu was doing just the opposite. Settling down on top of her with his full body weight and sighing heavily to himself to jab at how comfortable he felt on top over her. She growled at him, finally yanking a hand free. Her fingers crept up to pull at his hair. But he caught her and pinned her wrist down again, more gently then before. Nuzzling and rubbing his cheek against her own like a cat. Which was odd. Wasn't he supposed to be like a fish?

Sakura growled, he was only acting cuddly because he knew how much it infuriated her.

Suddenly his lips felt very close. Near her neck, soft and inviting. She felt her breath hitch as his own hot breath drew tingles forth onto her skin. Her own mouth parted in a gentle sigh at the first kiss, then another, and another. Nipping lightly with his mouth rather than his teeth. She turned her face to meet his.

Because it wasn't her fault if she _liked it_.

It wasn't possessive, or dominating. It was curious, hesitant, the inside of his mouth was warm. And she felt herself heating up from beneath him. She tugged her wrists free from his grasp. Snaking her arms around him before he could try to move away. But he made no attempt at doing so. With one hand he cupped behind her head, fingers raking her hair. Cradling her scull in his palm. The other dipped under her shirt to stroke the soft flesh beneath.

He was making an effort to be more gentle this time. To draw out the feeling. To extend to moment they were spending together, thoughtless. Because thinking complicated things, and made it harder for these rare moments to last.

His mouth traced over the hard bump of her collarbone. Exploring new places, delicate flesh that he had not yet tasted. Her hands tightened over his back, and he shifted so that they were closer. His body fit perfectly against her when he was between her legs. Their mouths met again it was more hungry. Like he was trying to smother her lips with his own. Consume them, and devour them.

It was not long after then, as they grew more comfortable and more assured by each other, when Sakura's front door opened. And with it came the familiar sound of Kakashi. Stepping into her house and closing the door behind him. They split apart from each other as fast as humanly possible. Looking at each other in unison with similar signs of shock. Though Sakura's was much worse, bordering on panic. And Suigetsu looked more like he'd just been caught off-guard.

The two righted their appearances and without looking at each other again, got up to do their morning routine. Sakura was mortified at just how close they came from being caught.

She practically dove into her bathroom and hurriedly stripped off her clothes and stepped into her shower. Yelping when the icy spray hit her like sharp needles unexpectedly. Even when the water heated up and she had just a few minutes alone. She still couldn't completely comprehend what it was that had happened moments before.

She got to work, late. Terrified that she'd be yelled at for her irresponsibility. Which she was, and for almost half an hour after she arrived she was forced into being subjected to an embarrassing amount of verbal abuse and criticizing. Right in front of the entire hospital staff. She then was rewarded with a mountain-load of tasks to do. Ranging from twice as many regular healing sessions. To assisting in a surgery, which, before then she had usually done herself. (And it stung to be forced into watching the duties that she would normally do on her own as basically just a bystander.) As well as changing bedpans and urinals. Which was a nasty job mostly reserved for nurse's assistants. Whom were considered the lowest on the medical food chain.

Sakura knew that this was her punishment for her less-than-top performance she had been doing lately. But she still sulked over the injustice. She finally finished after the end of the day and well into the night, and returned to tell the charge nurse that she was done. Having worked over her entire shift as well as overtime.

And when she licked her dry lips nervously as she waited, she could have sworn that she still could taste a hint of Suigetsu's kiss lingering on them.

* * *

Time passed.

He was telling her bits of information for her to give to Tsunade. Enough to keep him in the house but still not enough for the Council to actually do anything with. The time they spent completely alone was very rare and often short. Forbidden looks were exchanged when no one was looking. Accidental, at first. But less and less so as time passed. Often they'd catch each other watching, silent conveying a secret message. Wanting, longing, craving to continue the earlier passions they had found.

It was without reason, other than the fact that she couldn't remember the last time she had gone to an outing, that Sakura had come to Tsunade about an upcoming festival that she wanted to attend. Because even though they were less hostile towards each other, Sakura still needed a break from him. Maybe to get her head straight in a less than pressurized setting. Or maybe it was because she wanted a chance to spend some time with him outside of the house without having to feel like she was committing treason every time he went with her.

To her, - and everyone else's - surprise, Tsunade had actually agreed, on the condition that Sakura would bring the captive with her. As maybe being in a different environment would loosen him up to talking some more.

Sakura had figured that Tsunade would say that, so she didn't let herself feel disappointed. Instead, she planned a day with Ino to go shopping for the upcoming event, whom her friend was also planning to go to. - Ino had actually been the one who told her about the festival, and had already begged her friend to go with her. Sakura, seeing a chance at an escape from her house, had quickly agreed.

She didn't tell Suigetsu about it until the day the event was held. She didn't want to risk him trying to come up with a plan to flee the village, or worse, planning a way to humiliate her again in a public place. Although he was less than pleased at the fact that it was such short notice (Like he had anything else to do anyway) He quickly got excited over the idea. And was surprisingly well-behaved when they got there, compared to his usual self.

"It's strange, I thought a lot of the others would be here too." Said Sakura.

"Nope, just us." Ino replied. She sounded a little downtrodden. Sakura wondered if she had expected to meet someone while they were there.

"But if it makes you feel better, I thought so too." She took a sip of her drink, which was what looked like some fruity alcohol beverage. Sakura raised an eyebrow, wasn't Ino still too young to drink? But just a quickly as the thought came she dismissed it. Ino could take care of herself perfectly well.

It was about half an hour later as she sat with Ino, it was a smaller event then she had thought it would be. But nonetheless, it wasn't too bad. Sakura was actually enjoying herself. She had even let Suigetsu move around a bit, as she knew Tsunade had dispatched about a dozen ANBU to keep an eye on him while they were out. From somewhere far away an explosion went off. Sakura turned to where it had come from, but didn't pay much heed to it though. It wasn't uncommon for someone to misuse an explosive tag somewhere in the village at times.

The two girls sat together in a few moments of comfortable silence

"Your cousin can't seem to take his eyes off of you." Ino said randomly.

Sakura's eyes snapped open and her head whipped to where Suigetsu was standing, watching her. Their eyes met, and both of them looked away quickly. Her cheeks turned crimson when she realized how badly this could turn out. But as fate or luck would have it, Ino remained oblivious.

"Don't worry Sakura. I know he's your boyfriend." Ino winked at her. "I figured he was, considering how close you two are."

Great, that was just what she needed. Although, she supposed, it was infinitively better than any rumors of incest. The medic forced down her embarrassed blush.

Sakura's eyes narrowed when less than two minutes later she saw that a strange woman had approached her would-be roommate while she had been talking with Ino.

_'Figures he'd do that the moment I took my eyes off of him.'_ She grumbled inwardly. Standing up and marching towards where the two were sitting. Taking a muscled arm she pulled him up to stand with her.

"Dance with me." She said, it was a good opportunity to get him away from the other girl, who was glaring spitefully at her direction.

Suigetsu raised an eyebrow at her, but didn't protest when she took him by the arm and led him to where the other couples were dancing.

Her body fit against his rather well as they moved together. Sakura had no idea why she hadn't assumed that he was good at dancing, looking at how attractive he was. Both pairs of hips swayed together. She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him close to her. Rocking together with the beat of the music. Now that Ino knew they weren't related Sakura had no need to pretend that they weren't close. She felt his hot breath fan her ear, which in turn made her shiver and goosebumps raise on her flesh.

They drew closer only when Sakura was sure that no one they knew was paying attention. The ANBU that were watching had suddenly disappeared. Probably to investigate the explosion, but they'd have replacements back in a few moments. The window of opportunity was short.

Sakura shuddered beneath his persisting mouth as it came to hover over her shoulder and glide up her neck. Her eyes were already fluttering closed at the feel of his lips and tongue and teeth. Oh! The teeth! How could she forget? The sensations of the sharp ends of them were sending hot shivers up her spine. Heat was pooling into her belly. His hands were tracing over and around her hips slowly. Moving her body against his for her when she could no longer do it herself.

"We should get out of here."

They were the most beautiful words she could remember ever hearing. Wordlessly she nodded, and he pulled her through the crowd. She was still too overtaken to even keep aware of her surroundings. A horrible mistake for a ninja, she would later scold herself.

Before she had time to even think about what they were doing they were back at her apartment. Then her door was being opened and no sooner than it was kicked closed was she pushed against it. Moaning as his lips finally met hers. Suigetsu's mouth was persistent and hot, claiming hers. His tongue slipped into her mouth and his hand tangled in her hair. His other hand was slipping up her thigh and under her dress. Pressing tightly against her, and she was more than willing to surrender herself.

Then they were moving, somehow. Towards her room, to her bed. And they had almost made it, until someone tripped and they both fell to the carpeted floor. Suigetsu was already working his hands under her clothes, and she felt no need to stop him.

How long had they been bordering on sexual tension? Even before he came to live with her possibly. If she looked back on it now, it could have started that first time she came into his cell while he was tied, bruised and beaten to that chair. The first time that she had touched him... well, after the biting and the punching..

She felt the warmth of his hand as it pulled open her dress. Fumbling one-handedly against the zipper on her front. Pulling her bra over her head as soon as her arms were out of her sleeves. He grasped a handful of her hair behind her head. Maneuvering her to his liking, whispering hotly into her ear. She shivered and closed her eyes as his lips trailed down her neck to her shoulder. Where his teeth bit down lightly. Not enough to break the skin, but just enough to sting. Then he was kissing and licking the same spot gently in apology.

Her hand sneaked down his torso, and slipped into his pants. Which were just loose enough for her to stroke his growing arousal. She felt her face heat up when she felt the smoothness over steely flesh. He wasn't wearing anything underneath.

"Mmm.." he groaned softly. She took that as encouragement and wrapped her fingers around him, grasping him. When he hissed she tightened her grip, and gave him a small jerk. Trying to pretend that she had done this before.

Maybe it was too obvious, her face was glowing. He could feel the heat of her blush when he moved up to kiss her again.

"Virgin?" He teased, and she felt her face burn even more. Glaring at him as he laughed.

He buried his face into her neck, and she had to suppress a bout of choked giggles when his nose and eyelashes brushed sensitive skin. It was too hard to stay mad at him when he was being so gentle. When he was touching her in places she wanted to be touched, caressing and exploring. Different then before... better. He was mapping out her body as she was beneath him. She still had him in her hand, and with each squeeze she was reminded of how much control that gave her. When he jerked and groaned hotly against her.

They moved in a steady rhythm, hips separated only by a thin layer of fabric. She trembled beneath him. Losing her grasp and letting her hand slip away from his pants. It wasn't much longer until they were completely undressed and panting heavily.

"You're sure?" He whispered breathlessly. "Sakura, you can't take this back, are you sure?"

The medic groaned, why did he have to doubt into it? She only felt sure of this when he did, or at least _acted_ like he did.

She felt the heat and the hardness of the tip of his length. Brushing against her but not going in. Which, at the moment was _not_ what she wanted.

"Go" she gasped.

He let out a sigh of relief and moved forward. Just easing his tip inside of her, hardly even counting as inside because she couldn't feel enough of him. Then a sudden loud banging erupted from the front door. Both of them froze.

"Sakura-chan!" A familiar voice shouted. "Open up!"

Suigetsu hung his head over her in defeat. "Shit." He growled.

* * *

**A/N; Alright, I'll admit it. I'm going through a rather nasty spell of Writer's Crap. (If you can't already tell.) There! I said it! XP**

**Next chapter will be better**


	14. X

**A/N; This is unbeta-ed because I'm too lazy at the moment so mistakes will be taken care of later.**

**My name is Memories Faded, apparently gamer boys are not capable of believing I am a D cup not ugly or fat and single and I do not own Naruto.**

Chapter Ten

* * *

_**Coalesce**_

_-verb_

_[koh-uh-**les**]_

_1. to grow together or into one body_

_2. to unite so as to form one mass, community, etc_

* * *

"Sakura." Naruto said, his eyes were wide and he was out of breath. "We have to go."

"What is it?" She tried to snuff the irritability out of her voice.

"It's going to rain really soon. Kakashi-sensei's hounds will have a much harder time finding his trail if we don't hurry. Here, put this on."

It was a blank mask. Like the kind the ANBU wore, only undecorated. Naruto slipped one over his own face and Sakura realized, that this had to be serious. They had to be extremely close this time. Never before had they taken sure extreme precautions.

Suigetsu peeked out from the corner. His fly was still unbuttoned. She looked at him from out of the corner of her eye, and for a moment she could even picture the expression of grim uncertainty that she probably made.

He looked back at her, face unreadable, and turned back into his room.

For some reason, Sakura felt like she had betrayed him.

* * *

The trees were dark and it was hard to navigate so late at night. Naruto was more determined than she had ever seen him before. So much so that she was afraid of speaking lest he snap at her. She had a distant lurking fear that the Kyuubi in him might try to appear, and she hoped that Captain Yamato was in the same search group.

Pakkun brought them to a clearing on the forest floor.

"This is where his scent is strongest." The nin dog said. Naruto nodded in acknowledgement.

A younger ANBU was with them, he spoke first. "We have a better chance of finding him if we split up."

Sakura opened her mouth to tell them promptly what a _stupid_ idea that was. But Naruto had already beaten her to it.

"Alright, I'll go this way. You both take the other sides."

She frowned at her teammate behind her blank mask. He was acting rashly, without thinking things through. More so than usual.

"Naruto..." She said softly. Reaching for his shoulder, only for her fingers to brush over the cloth on his back as he moved away. Not hearing her or simply not caring enough to listen. Her teammate stood, along with the other male in their group, and both set off in different directions. Leaving her to stand there for a moment longer before leaving in the direction they told her to go.

But worse was yet to come. Before Sakura made it more than half a mile from the site the group had disbanded it was pouring big fat heavy raindrops in a horrid downpour. Throughly soaking her clothes and freezing her to the bone. Threatening to blind her and making bark on the trees so slippery that she had trouble jumping on them without the threat of falling off.

_'Alright,'_ she decided _'Ground it is.'_

Almost immediately after she had jumped back to the ground had she noticed the obvious difference. The earth was muddy and wet and almost as slippery. But it was easier to hold herself up by focusing her chakra into the balls of her feet than it had been on the trees.

But that did little to settle her troubled mind. Paranoia nestled itself into the back of her brain and every nerve in her body was on edge, waiting for something to happen.

It didn't take long. In less than another ten minutes of running the medic's highly sensitive chakra perception picked up traces of another person straight ahead of her. But what scared her was that she knew Sasuke wouldn't she himself if he didn't intend to. She felt like she was walking into a trap in her very own home.

Troubled, she noticed that the presence ahead of her was not just one being. But two, very strong, very close beings. Sakura was unsure how to continue, but she was also equally unsure if or not she should try to get away from them.

It turned out, they decided for her. As the next thing she knew she was dodging as volley of projectiles that were thrown in her direction and jumping into the trees away from them.

As soon as she recovered she took time to study her enemy.

There was something familiar about the both of them, though she'd never seen them before. A huge male with bright orange hair and a girl with a head full of dark magenta and a pair of glasses over her eyes. Glaring coldly in her direction like she was something that needed squashing as soon as possible.

But that wasn't what startled her. Dimly she took into account that the information that Suigetsu had given them was true after all. But that was buried beneath the fact that if these two were indeed the members of the small team that _he_ had made. Then that also meant -

And there he was. In front of his teammates and staring at her. No different than the last time she had seen him save for a new cloak. His sharingan was activated and he looked coiled and ready for attack.

Sakura's breath came out in a great whoosh. Like someone had given her a full-force punch to the stomach while she was unprepared.

"Sasuke." She said.

* * *

The rain poured down like icy buckets of cold water on her body. She stayed frozen, unable to move, unable to attack even if she wanted to (_did she?_) waiting for someone to make the first move.

"Sakura." Sasuke called to her. "Why don't you come down so I can see you?"

She hesitated, weighing her options. She could stay put in her tree. But if he really wanted her to come out it was likely that he'd send one of his fire balls at her so she was forced out.

Deciding that it'd be better to come out on her own than risk being burned to a crisp, or any other sort of mutilation. Sakura jumped out of her perch and faced her former teammate warily. She felt her pulse race.

The act itself had been harder than Sakura had expected. Just looking at him, his dark hair, his chiseled features, was painful enough to form a lump in her throat. But why? She didn't know why exactly. Was it because she missed him? Because she had spent so much time looking but had never found him until she left the village without even intending to find him? It wasn't fair. This all wasn't fair. She wished Naruto were here, at least he would know what to say. It was his stupid idea to go along with splitting up. Even if he didn't, he would have spoken first and made her feel less awkward, less afraid. But there wasn't even any space to feel awkward or fear. Just the fact that he was there made everything around her feel numb and distant.

There wasn't anything really to say. It wasn't like the medic and the ravenhead would really have much to talk about. Not in this situation. The idea on trying to converse with Sasuke about old times was so ridiculous that it was nearly laughable. Sakura was painfully aware of how badly she was outnumbered, and how she had absolutely no means of calling for help.

Sasuke studied her, the tension in her body. He had to already know that she was alone. The redhead female behind him looked less than pleased.

"Looks like your Hokage trusts even an inferior shinobi enough to handle a mission on their own, Sasuke-kun."

Sakura flushed in anger, clenched her fists and tried to force down her temper.

"Sasuke Uchiha," She said, deciding to ignore the other female's comment. "What are you doing inside the Fire Country's borders?" Just the sheer force of the rain made her have to raise her voice so they could hear her clearly.

His face was blank, it was impossible to read anything from him.

"Not Sasuke-kun, anymore?"

Was that sarcasm? She had to suppress a sneer behind the mask. "Sorry, I hadn't realized." She really hadn't. Her mind stopped referring him with 'kun' at the end of his name for ages now.

He dropped his Sharingan. Probably thinking that he could handle her just fine without it.

Suddenly he looked disappointed. "It looks to me like you haven't changed at all Sakura."

She felt her temper flare at that, and at the slightest twinge of cruel, mocking amusement in his blank face. Had she not been angry she might have thought about what she said next.

"It looks to me like you're a teammate short."

The atmosphere around them suddenly dropped ten degrees in the already freezing rainstorm. She didn't miss the coldness in his eyes momentarily grow darker, or how his jaw tightened just the slightest.

"Ah yes, funny you should bring that up."

_'Easy,'_ she told herself. _'He doesn't know that you know anything about Suigetsu.'_

"You see, one of my crew, not too long ago was captured by Konoha ninjas"

She tried to keep her posture calm. Succeeded, but realized that her too-still figure was probably just as bad as a guilty, shifting one. Sasuke noticed.

_'He doesn't know'_

**Anything.**

"Sakura." Sasuke said in a hushed, faux-comforting tone. The kind of voice that was filled with true killing-intent. "I'm going to kill you if you don't tell me where he is."

And for one terrifying, panic-striking moment, Sakura was sure that she already was trapped in the illusion of his Mangekyou.

Sasuke made a move, and before she could interpret what he was even doing Sakura was jumping away and trying to flee. As she ran she felt something pierce her leg from behind. Ignored it, and kept running. Recognized and understood that the pain was coming from her leg being injured. She could feel blood coursing it's way down her calf, pooling into her shoe. But that still wasn't enough to shock her back into reality.

Her heart was pounding in her ears, her temples. She felt tears threaten to fall. Oh god, what were those tears from? Fear? Panic? Pain? Was the shock of seeing Sasuke again finally setting in? How could one person make her feel this weak and alone in only one encounter?

_'Maybe it's because you _are_ weak, and you _are_ alone.'_ Her suddenly turned cruel inner-Sakura fueled.

"Shut up." She whispered under her breath. Though the first part may have been true, she couldn't really handle the second thought right at this moment. "Shut up. Shut up. _Shut up_."

She couldn't see where she was going. Several times she almost slipped and fell from the wet bark on the trees, but she couldn't bring herself to care.

...

"Sasuke-kun she's getting away." Karin said.

"Yes, I know. Let her go."

"But -"

"Just let her go." He cut off all protests.

Karin waited until she could no longer sense the female ninja's chakra

"Isn't it a bad thing that she gets away? She'll tell the Hokage where we are."

"Yes, but she'll also tell Suigetsu."

Both Karin and Juugo gave him astonished and confused looks.

"She's in contact with him. There is no doubt she'll tell him." Sasuke explained. "She wants his trust."

"Grr, that no good Suigetsu." Karin mumbled half to herself. "If he says anything I'll -"

Any further complaint was stopped when Sasuke raised his hand for silence.

He waited.

"Let's go."

They left.

* * *

Her team was already looking for her when she finally caught up to them. The first thing they saw was her bleeding and chakra deprived from all her running, and they knew something was wrong.

Her story came out jumbled and hurried, but they got the message. And in less than half an hour later, every ANBU Black op, special Jounin and anyone else of importance knew that Sasuke Uchiha had been sighted outside of the village.

Teams went out to make extensive searches. They covered every square inch of Konoha's outside borders for miles in all direction. But ultimately, came back with nothing. Tsunade was furious. How dare that brat come from out of nowhere, hiding outside her village like a coward? She wanted him found, and she was working her shinobi into the ground to do so.

Sakura by then was too overwhelmed to respond to anything. In her mind, she suddenly felt as easily breakable as a porcelain doll. When had she come to this? Where had her adult maturity and stoic, controlled mask gone to? She felt weak and lightheaded. Not even bothering to heal the wound on her leg, which had clotted by now and wasn't that serious to begin with. Tsunade took one look at her student, who was trembling from the over-exertion. Sighed, and ordered her to go home.

"But-" Sakura had tried to protest but Tsunade shook her head firmly and pointed to the door of her office.

You've done enough already Sakura, I'll have someone get you tomorrow. You're no use to us when you're this exhausted.

Tired and somehow relieved. Sakura made the long tread home from the Hokage tower. Choosing to walk home slowly just because of how tired she was. Though the blinding rain had cleared by now. At this point running might lead her into hitting a brick wall.

She dreaded the confrontation she would likely receive on her arrival home.

* * *

She got home late that night. Having taken the long roads back, just long enough for her to clear her head. She was soaked and covered in mud and sweat and more exhausted than she could remember being in ages. An ANBU that she had never seen before, Kakashi's replacement no doubt, nodded to her once she was in the door and left without a word. Suigetsu peered curiously over at her from the kitchen, where he was eating yogurt.

"You look like hell." He said bluntly, barely suppressing a smirk. And Sakura, who was tired and so overwhelmed that she felt she could cry, just ignored him. Taking off the mask and setting it down on her kitchen counter. He followed her.

He grabbed her small wrist before she could get away, and pulled her back into him. Really, he'd had enough of her always running away from him when he was supposed to be the one in control -

Woah

Was that blood?

He frowned. "Why are you bleeding?"

She pulled away from him. He followed her, intent on getting answers.

"What happened?" Then he narrowed his eyes in suspicion, ever observant. "Who were you going after?"

Sakura just bit her lip and tried to continue ignoring him, why was he asking questions he already knew the answers to? But it wasn't working. Suigetsu was getting agitated. He grabbed her wrist again in a tight but not painful grip before she could reach the door to her room and pushed her until her back hit the wall. Sakura recoiled and tried slapping him away from her. But Suigetsu caught that wrist too and automatically wedged a knee between her legs.

This was not unlike the situation that took place weeks before. Sakura shivered at the feeling of once again being pinned by him to a wall, with no escape.

Suigetsu opened his mouth to speak, but before any words could get out Sakura pushed off against the wall, while still being held back, and smashed her lips against his.

Suigetsu was so shocked that he momentarily lost his grip, long enough for Sakura to push _him_ back and all but shove him backwards so now _he_ was the one against the wall.

They kissed in a sudden fit of fervor and urgency. Sakura whined, much to her own horror, as he lapped and suckled at her lip and tongue. She forced her own tongue back into the warmth of his mouth. He tasted the same as before, if not mixed with a bit of sweetness from the yogurt he had been eating when she first saw him. Their mouths meshed and finally sealed.

And then she broke down.

Pulling herself away from him, she buried her face in her hands. Sobbing. Collapsing on her knees and bringing him down with her.

Suigetsu looked at her like she was suddenly showing symptoms to a terminal contagious disease.

She released everything. Every pent up emotion that she had harbored since her teammate had abandoned them, had abandoned her, and Naruto, and everyone else. How was she any different from the twelve year old girl who had chased after that fantasy? Sasuke was right. She hadn't changed.

Unbeknown to her Suigetsu looked down at the girl who, a moment ago he had just shared the pleasure of kissing, who had fallen into his lap. Probably without even realizing it, and was bawling all over him. He waited a couple minutes for her to calm down. But when it became clear that she wasn't about to, he scooped her up like she weighed nothing and brought her over to the couch. Still blubbering about how useless she was and how stupid she had been, stupid, stupid, _stupid-_

He waited a few minutes, but her cries didn't stop. Distantly he started to worry. What in God's earth could have upset the girl, whom the only emotion he usually saw in was angry or irratated, so very badly? He began to rub her back, trying to get her to calm down. Stroking his fingers through her hair and rubbing his thumb over her shoulder. Partly because he wanted her to shut-up and partly because well... maybe it didn't kill him inside to be allowed to touch her in such an intimate manner. It took her a while. But finally she was quiet, breathing slowed back to normal and sobs eventually fading before coming to a stop. He was about to roll her over and start trying to force answers out of her again. When he realized by her steady breathing and relaxed body weight, that she had fallen asleep on him.

Sighing, Suigetsu pinched the bridge of his nose, stroking his fingers back through her hair.

He'd have to get his answers in the morning.

* * *

**A/N; Well, it's that time again. I turn 18 tomorrow and figured it was a good time to finally update _Discrepancy_. I've been so neglectful and I really must apologize :(**

**On another note, I deleted the two ANs I had posted, (although I did not want to) to humor my good reviewer DarkSacredJewelXoX. I won't lie and say I might never post one again in the future but I will be sure to delete those off my stories too and not keep them up for so long. :P**

**Happy 4th of July! :D**


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